


Can I Interview You?

by cactuscactus



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Tokyo Ghoul, Angst, Blood, Blood and Gore, Cannibalism, Everyone else is a ghoul, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Ghouls, Journalism, M/M, MC has a name because I didn't want to write MC a bunch of times, MC is a human, MC's name is Minhee Choi, Slow Burn, also this is like, hella gay, if you couldn't tell by the pairings, if you've read tokyo ghoul you can definitely handle this, more pairings may be added later, usual mint eye bullshit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2019-09-05 00:18:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 75,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16799926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cactuscactus/pseuds/cactuscactus
Summary: Unknown:Minhee, you’ll find what you’re looking for at the RFA CafeMinhee Choi, a journalist for a rather popular magazine, wants to interview a ghoul for her next article. While that is much easier said than done, it also carries a high risk of death. Minhee knows this and wants to do it anyway.Suffice to say, nothing really goes according to plan.aka I wrote the tokyo ghoul au that no one in this fandom wanted but we desperately needed anyway





	1. People Are Strange When You're A Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I feel like the conception of this fic deserves a little backstory: 
> 
> A few years ago I was really into mysmes, but later dropped it. Recently though, I've gotten back into the game full force for some reason, so that combined with the fact that I recently began reading the Tokyo Ghoul manga just resulted in this monstrosity of a fic
> 
> I have no clue if this fandom is even alive anymore, but if you guys are out there, I really hope you enjoy my story!

**Unknown** : _Minhee, you’ll find what you’re looking for at the RFA Cafe_

Minhee looked down at her phone, frowning at the mysterious text she’d just received. While normally she’d just brush it off as a wrong number, it said her name. She hadn’t given her phone number out to any public records place, so she didn’t know how this person could’ve found it.

What the hell did it mean?

The train flew past her, a warm gust of wind blowing her hair up and away from her face. She took a step back from the platform, and waited for the train to slow to a stop, still staring at the text. 

She wondered if this person actually knew what it was she was looking for. 

As she climbed aboard the train and took a seat next to a window, she pulled open her web browser and typed in _RFA Cafe_. 

Located in the East District, the cafe was a popular, privately owned coffee shop that had been in operation for about two years. While Instagram posts showed adorable lattes with suns drawn in the foam, what caught Minhee’s eye was the neighborhood it was located in.

East District, lower sector. An area known for a higher percentage of ghoul attacks. 

This had to be what the text was referring to. 

But on the surface, nothing about the cafe seemed to be unusual. Minhee watched from the other side of the street as patrons walked in and out of the building, chatting amicably amongst themselves with coffee in hand. Figuring she could use a coffee anyway, Minhee decided to get a better look by going inside. 

The door chimed as she entered the small cafe, the sweet smell of roasting coffee beans wafting around her as the chill from the fall morning was chased away. The inside was warm, the sound of chatting patrons creating a sort of soft music in the background. The walls were adorned with beautiful photographs, many depicting flowers or the sun. 

It was so utterly ordinary, Minhee couldn’t help but be suspicious. 

“Hi, welcome to the RFA Cafe. What can I get for you?” Minhee blinked, realizing she was standing in front of the counter. The worker in front of her was a young blond man, seemingly a college student, with a medical eyepatch over one of his eyes. 

After a moment of surprised silence, Minhee smiled. “Hi! Um, can I just get a small latte, please?” 

“Sure!” The boy, ‘Yoosung’ according to his nametag, quipped. “Would you like anything to eat with that?” 

Minhee shook her head. “No thank you.” Nodding, the barista rang her up and she found a table next to a window to wait for her drink at. 

She wasn’t sure what she was looking for. Maybe a lot of ghouls frequented this cafe? Or maybe it was run by a ghoul? Minhee knew that it was impossible to identify someone as a ghoul just by looking at them. But still, she was going to keep an eye out for anything weird. 

“Latte for Minhee?” the barista called out, sliding the latte towards the pickup counter. Minhee got up from her table and grabbed the drink, smiling when she saw the small sun doodled in the foam. Admittedly, it was a little crooked, but she could see the effort put in all the same. 

“Oh um,” she looked up to see Yoosung still standing by the counter, “sorry about the latte art. I’m kinda new here so I’m still learning.” She realized he’d noticed her staring at the lopsided sun, and thought she was upset it wasn’t better. 

“Oh no, don’t worry, I think it’s great!” Minhee reassured him. “It’s way better than anything I could do.” 

Yoosung smiled at her and turned back to his work, and Minhee took a sip of her latte as she went back to her table. She blinked when the sweetness hit her tongue, and realized that was one of the best latte’s she’d had in a while. 

Sitting back in her seat, Minhee thought back to the conversation with her boss a few weeks before that had gotten her this assignment in the first place. 

_“We need to write about something we haven’t written about before. We’re writing the same thing over and over and our readers are getting tired of it. Sales have started dropping and I’m worried. Minhee, you’re one of our best journalists. Do you have any ideas? Anything you’ve wanted to do but were too afraid to ask about, perhaps?”_

_Minhee was seated in her boss’ office, watching the woman pace back and forth in front of her desk._

_“Um, well I did have an idea a while ago that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind,” Minhee said, staring at her hands._

_“Great! What is it?”_

_Minhee bit her lip. “This is going to sound… a little crazy. But I want to do an article on ghouls.”_

_She looked up, and saw her boss frowning at her. “Minhee, we’ve run a ton of articles on the CCG’s work before.”_

_Minhee shook her head. “No, I didn’t mean do a piece on the CCG or using the CCG’s commentary. I meant a piece directly interviewing ghouls, and hearing their stories.”_

_Her boss stared at her. Minhee squirmed in her seat._

_“You… you want to write an article… where you interview ghouls?”_

_Minhee nodded slowly. “I would keep them anonymous obviously. And I just think it’d be a chance for people to learn more about ghouls. All we ever see or hear about them is from what the CCG tells us, but the fact is is that thousands of them are around us every day and we’ve never heard from them directly. I just… think it might be helpful if people were to hear a ghoul’s side of the story.”_

_Her boss sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “While I do admit that would certainly get us attention, and while I also agree it would be interesting to hear what a ghoul’s life is like, I don’t know how the hell you would do it! First, you’d need to find a ghoul to interview. That alone would be next to impossible because as you know, ghouls don’t exactly want to be found. Second, you’d need to figure out how to not get eaten by your interview subject. Third, you’d have to convince them to trust that you wouldn’t turn them in. And honestly, I have no clue how you’d achieve any of that.”_

_Minhee was quiet for a moment, having thought of all that when she first came up with the idea. “I know it wouldn’t be easy, and I know I’d be taking a huge risk by doing it, but I really think I could! It can’t be impossible to find a ghoul if you really want to talk to one. There are rumors on the street about ghoul havens all the time!”_

_“Rumors? You want to go off rumors?”_

_“Rumors are always rooted in some truth,” Minhee said, “Look, I’m telling you that if you give me time, I really believe I could make this happen.”_

_Her boss narrowed her eyes at her. “I just don’t feel right sending you on an assignment that could very likely end in your death.”_

_“Reporters go into war zones all the time!” Minhee protested._

_“Yes, because there’s an agreement that they are neutral parties and therefore get special access. Ghouls kill innocent people all the time. There are no neutral parties there.”_

_“I’m sure some of them can see reason. Plus, why wouldn’t they want something like this! It would probably improve the public's opinion of ghouls!”_

_Her boss put her hand on her forehead and looked away. “What if you get killed, Minhee?”_

_Minhee had to pause for a moment. “I… I know the risks, and I’m willing to take them,” she said quietly._

_“Plus I’ve been wanting to do this for a while now, so even if you say no I’m gonna pursue it on my own time. Only difference will be you won’t be the one to publish it when it’s finished.”_

_Her boss whirled back around at that and groaned. “I swear to god you’re one of the most stubborn employees I’ve ever had.” The older woman sighed again, and stepped towards Minhee. “If I let you do this, you have to promise me that you won’t value the story above your own life. If things get dangerous, I don’t care what the subject is telling you, I want you to get out of there.”_

_Minhee nodded, jumping out of her seat. “I promise!”_

_Her boss closed her eyes and muttered something to herself that sounded like, ‘why am I agreeing to this?’, before looking back to Minhee. “Fine. You can do it. As long as you keep yourself safe and promise not to tell anyone, not even your co-workers, about this. I don’t want to get sued.”_

_Minhee smiled. “I won’t talk about it! Thank you so much, I promise you won’t regret this!”_

_And with that, Minhee rushed out of the office to start her research._

Minhee ended up staying in that cafe for several hours. She pulled her laptop out and typed down observations she made about the patrons in the cafe. Most people weren’t very exciting, but there were a few people she made note of. 

__

POI 1  
Gender: Male  
Height: 5’11” - 6’0”, unable to say for sure  
Appearance: White hair, red eyes, unable to ascertain if these are natural features or if it’s simply for the ‘look’  
If natural could be due to albinism  
Notes:  
\- Barista ‘Yoosung’ seemed to know him, giving him a drink without the man even having to order.  
\- Friend of owner?  
\- Friend of barista?  
\- Seems to be studying a script of some sort  
\- Actor?  
\- Writer?  
\- Spent five minutes taking selfies  
\- Narcissistic?  
\- Or something more?

__

POI 2  
Gender: Male  
Height: Possibly 6’0”? Give or take a few  
Appearance: Dark hair, dark eyes, business suit  
Notes:  
\- Similar to POI 1, POI 2 did not have to order a drink when being given one  
\- After receiving drink, POI 2 went into the staff area of the cafe and has not returned since  
\- Owner?

_POI 3_  
Gender: Male  
Height: Same as POI 2  
Appearance: Teal hair, could not see eyes due to sunglasses, casual clothes  
Notes:  
\- Did not take sunglasses off while inside  
\- Walked in with POI 2  
\- Again, received drink without ordering  
\- Followed POI 2 to the staff area  
\- Owner/Co-owner?  
\- Employee?

After a few hours, Minhee realized she had an appointment she almost forgot about and was forced to leave the cafe. Thankfully, the appointment wasn’t far, and she was able to walk there in plenty of time. 

The appointment ended up running long. It was dark by the time Minhee got out, and she knew she needed to catch the train home soon. The streets were mostly empty, the harsh lights overhead washing out the landscape in a sea of orange. Her shoes were a constant tap tap tap against the sidewalk, echoing off the buildings and only adding to the empty silence that surrounded her. 

Minhee reached into her bag and gripped the pepper spray she kept in there, just in case. 

As she walked, she glanced up and just happened to notice the RFA Cafe situated across the street. She hadn’t even realized that her walk back would take her by it once more. Pausing her steps, Minhee noticed the lights were off, and figured the cafe must’ve been closed. 

There was a flash of movement from the roof of the cafe. Instinctively, Minhee ducked down behind a car parked on the side of the road. She heard the sound of boots thudding against pavement across the street, followed by voices. 

Unsure of what she was dealing with, Minhee cautiously peeked her head above the hood of the car so she could get a look at the people she was hearing. 

There were five of them. It was hard to see them clearly in the dark, but she could make out that they were all wearing masks of some kind. The group was standing in a half circle outside the doors of the cafe, and Minhee could hear they were laughing. 

One of the group members laughed so much they stumbled backwards, causing them to step into the line from the orange streetlight. For just a brief moment, Minhee was able to see the figure clearly, including the large red tentacles protruding from the figure’s lower back. 

And then as quickly as the figure was in the light, they had stepped back towards their friends into the shadows once more. 

Minhee should’ve ducked down, but now she found herself frozen as she stared at the group of _ghouls_ chatting in front of the cafe. They chatted for a few more moments, before one of them unlocked the door to the cafe, and they all went inside.

Sliding down the side of the car, Minhee took a shaky breath as she tried to process what she saw. 

Her anonymous tip was right. There were ghouls at the RFA Cafe. Now that that had been confirmed, she had more questions. 

Did they own it? Did they work there? Were any of the people she saw there today ghouls? Or maybe they just used it as a meeting place at night. If she wanted to get answers, she only had one option. 

She was gonna have to go back there and get more information. 

Minhee ended up having to run to catch the train, and by the time she got home it was very late. Slamming the door to her apartment shut, she stumbled to her closet and changed into pajamas, before pulling out her laptop to record what she’d seen that night so she didn’t forget any important information. 

__

Night 1  
\- Five ghouls gathered outside RFA Cafe at 10:55pm  
\- Eventually went inside said cafe  
\- Presumably not a break in as no alarms sounded and there was no struggle to unlock the door  
\- Each wearing masks  
\- Deer-like mask (horns protruding from top)  
\- Covered only upper half of face  
\- Cat mask  
\- Light up clown mask  
\- Covered entirety of face  
\- Other two masks not discernable due to poor lighting  
\- One kagune seen, unsure of type, further research will need to be done

Once the note page was finished, Minhee closed her laptop and dragged her hands down her face. She was exhausted. It had been a rollercoaster of a day, and she’d already gotten further in her investigation in a single day than she had in the past several weeks. 

Minhee made sure to lock her door before bed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter yeet
> 
> The second chapter is basically done so I might post that soon, who knows. Consistent uploading schedule? I don't know her. 
> 
> Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed! Please please please make sure to leave a kudos and a comment if you did, they really make my day :)
> 
> And if you wanna talk mysmes or tokyo ghoul with me feel free to hmu on tumblr! I love talking to new people
> 
> cactusskiddo.tumblr.com
> 
> oh and the chapter title for this comes from the song 'people are strange' by echo & the bunnymen


	2. Cry, Little Sister! (Thou Shalt Not Fall)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhee should really have paid attention to which way the wind was blowing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So I figured since this chapter was already finished, I'd go ahead and post it. I might write more of this, I'm still not sure yet though. We'll see! 
> 
> also the chapter title comes from the song 'cry little sister' by gerard mcmann from the lost boys soundtrack
> 
> Anyway, we actually meet everyone else in this chapter so like, fun times y'all

The next day, she went back to the RFA Cafe. There was a different barista than yesterday working. This time it was a woman. She had short dark hair and kind eyes the color of honey, and a blush rose to Minhee’s cheeks when their hands brushed as she took the latte from the woman. 

She made notes on a few more people as the days passed, but the main contenders seemed to be the original three men, plus the two baristas she had seen thus far. 

Minhee continued to go back there every night, but she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The group of masked people she’d seen that night didn’t reappear, and while she kept a closer eye on the news than ever before, she didn’t hear any news about ghoul attacks in the district. 

But still, Minhee knew it was just a matter of time. It might take a while, but she’d find them eventually. 

She was willing to wait.

☽☾

It was silent in the streets, the only noise being Minhee’s soft breaths as she waited, hidden, across the street for the ghouls of RFA Cafe to show up again. A cold breeze blew across her shoulders, causing goosebumps to rise along her arms. Resisting the urge to shiver, she pulled her jacket tighter around herself.

A week had passed since she’d last seen the ghouls. She was beginning to get paranoid. She didn’t know how much a ghoul had to feed, and she didn’t know how often they went out. For all she knew, it could be weeks or even months before she saw them again. 

Minhee didn’t know what she was going to do if that was the case. Either she’d have to find new ghouls, or wait it out. 

At the moment, it was looking like it was going to be the latter. 

The slamming of footsteps on concrete echoed off the walls, and Minhee peeked her head over the car to look across the street. She saw one person standing near the RFA Cafe, but their face was turned away from her. She watched them as they lingered, searching for any sign of a mask or kagune. While it could’ve been her imagination, she almost swore she saw rippling tentacles in the shadows coming from the person’s back. 

The wind picked up again. Minhee did shiver this time, and wrapped her arms around herself as the breeze blew her hair into her face. She pushed the strands behind her ears, not wanting to have her vision obscured as she observed this possible ghoul. 

When the ghoul whirled around though, that was when Minhee realized the wind had been blowing her scent straight towards them. 

For a brief second, her eyes met with the stitched clown mask of the ghoul. Then she ducked back into her hiding spot, having to bite her tongue to keep from whimpering. They had seen her. That person had definitely seen her. She made eye contact. They knew she was here. 

A few moments passed. Everything was completely still. The breeze had calmed down once more, and the streets were as dead as could be. Minhee tried to control her breathing, hoping it wasn’t too loud. She wanted to look again but she didn’t want to risk being seen once more. 

The minutes dragged on, Minhee scarcely allowing herself to take a deep breath. Finally, after what felt like an hour but was in reality two minutes, she turned around to peek over once more. 

To her surprise, the ghoul was gone. 

Frowning, Minhee opened her mouth to mutter a, ‘what the hell’, but before she could she felt a hand slam down on her shoulder. Next thing she knew, she was being thrown into the alleyway behind her. 

Sliding on the pavement, Minhee scrambled to her feet as the clown mask ghoul stormed over to her. They grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her against the wall, and she yelped in pain when her skull collided painfully with the brick. 

“Tsk tsk, you silly humans never learn,” the ghoul crooned. She could tell it was a man by his voice, and his face was uncomfortably close to hers. “How long were you watching me for?” 

Minhee was frozen, only able to gape at him as her thoughts spun out of control. “Uh, I-” 

“Well I guess it doesn’t matter,” the ghoul cut her off, “no matter what in the end you’re just going to be my dinner. So why waste time, right?” There was a playful lilt to his voice that Minhee found very inappropriate for the situation. 

“God, I promised the others I wouldn’t eat again for the rest of the month, but I can’t very well just let you go now. I’ll apologize to them all later. They’ll get over it eventually.” The ghoul seemed to be talking more to himself now than to Minhee, but his grip on her remained iron strong. 

Shrugging his shoulders, he let go of one of her shoulders and brought it to the chin of his mask. Minhee realized he was going to lift his mask so he could eat her. 

In a panic, Minhee found herself yelling. 

“Wait! I’m a journalist!” 

He let his hand drop from his mask, and cocked his head to the side. “And why should I care?” 

“Because I want to interview you!” Minhee internally groaned at herself for how little information she could spit out. 

“What the fuck do you mean by that?” The ghoul asked. 

Minhee this time closed her eyes and took a deep breath to try and calm her racing heart. “I’m trying to write a piece where I interview ghouls so that us humans can gain a better understanding of what you’re like. I’m not trying to turn you into the CCG or anything. I just want to get a chance to talk to some of you guys.” 

The ghoul stared at her for a moment, before snorting. “Yeah right. You’re just one of the CCG’s spies trying to gain info on us so you can make a move. I don’t believe you for a second.” 

Minhee’s eyes widened. “No, wait, please! I swear I don’t want to turn you guys in! I have nothing against ghouls!” 

“Wow, great joke. All humans have something against ghouls. We’re the predators and you’re our prey. It’s only natural for you to be scared of us. Now, enough wasting my time with your bullshit. I’m getting hungry.” 

The ghoul began to move closer, and Minhee tried to struggle in his grip but it was no use. She watched him reach to lift his mask up once more, and she silently sent out an apology to her boss for breaking the promise she made her. 

Then, another voice cut in. 

“Luciel, what the hell are you doing?” It was a woman’s voice. Looking above the ghoul’s shoulder— Luciel apparently— she saw the female barista from the coffee shop standing with her eyes narrowed in a glare. 

Luciel spun around to look at her. “Getting ready to enjoy dinner, obviously.” 

“You know that because we’ve already had some CCG attention here in the past few weeks that you weren’t supposed to hunt anyone for a month.” 

Luciel groaned. “You don’t get it, Jaehee. She was watching me! It was only by pure chance I caught her spying on me from behind a car.” 

The woman— Jaehee— sent a surprised glance to Minhee. “Why was she doing that?” 

Luciel let go of Minhee to throw his hands up in the air in a shrug. “Probably because she’s a ghoul investigator? I dunno, she claims she’s a journalist who wants to interview ghouls but I’m pretty sure that’s a load of crap.” 

Jaehee turned her gaze to Minhee completely now. “You’re a journalist?” She asked. 

“Yes, I’ve been trying to find ghouls for the past week to try and interview for an article I want to write,” Minhee explained, rubbing her shoulders where Luciel had been gripping her. 

Jaehee narrowed her eyes. “I recognize you. You started coming to the cafe not too long ago. How did you find out about us? I doubt you just got lucky.” 

Minhee glanced to the ground. “I, um, got a text on my phone one day telling me to check out RFA Cafe,” she said quietly. 

“From who?” Jaehee asked, taking a step closer to her. 

“I don’t know. It was an unknown number.” 

Luciel scoffed, and Jaehee leveled him with a glare. “While I want to say that sounds ridiculous, I don’t know how you’d find out about us on your own otherwise.” 

“I’m telling you, she’s a dove-” 

“And I’m not saying she’s not. All I’m saying is we don’t know for certain, and if it’s true that this girl did indeed find out about us from an anonymous tip, that means there is someone who knows about us who is spreading our secrets around. So, we can’t kill her because she is our only connection to this mystery person,” Jaehee shot back at him. She turned back to Minhee, and sighed. “Good thing no one has left the cafe yet.” 

“Why?” Luciel asked. 

“Because we need to tell everyone about this,” Jaehee said, reaching forward and grabbing Minhee’s arm, “you need to come with us.” Minhee didn’t even get a chance to protest before Jaehee was dragging her across the street, Luciel following close behind. 

The lights in the RFA Cafe were still off. Jaehee led her inside, Minhee blinking in surprise when she realized the door was unlocked. During the day, the cafe was a bright and welcoming place, but at night it seemed much more sinister. The lights from the street shone through the windows, hitting the furniture and creating sharp shadows along the walls. Their footsteps echoed off the empty space, and Minhee couldn’t help but be reminded that she was walking into a ghoul’s den right now. She was powerless against them. She had bought herself some time, but it was going to run out eventually. 

Lights shone from underneath the staff door behind the register, and Jaehee let go of Minhee’s arm to open the door. Minhee winced at the brightness, but stepped inside as Jaehee gestured for her to do. 

The first thing she noticed were the four men already standing in the room. It appeared her notes from her first day at the cafe were right. There was the dark-haired man in the business suit and his teal-haired companion standing on one side of the room, leaning towards each other in a quiet conversation. Then, the white-haired man who had been taking selfies was sitting at a table in the corner of the room, shoulders hunched over as he looked at his phone. And across from the white-haired man, was the barista from the first day, Yoosung. 

Yoosung was the only person in the room that surprised Minhee. She figured she should’ve expected it, given he worked at RFA Cafe and all, but it was still difficult for her to imagine the sweet and awkwardly cute boy… eating people. 

But here he was, a laptop in front of him and headphones over his ears. 

As Minhee walked in though, every single one looked up at the same time, and identical expressions of confusion crossed all their faces. Yoosung slipped his headphones off and closed his laptop, while the white-haired man pocketed his phone and rose to his feet. The business man and the teal-haired man also approached, as Luciel closed the door behind him, Minhee, and Jaehee. 

“Assistant Kang, what is the meaning of this?” the businessman asked. 

“This human,” Jaehee began, stepping towards the man, “has been watching our cafe for the past few days. She says she’s journalist who wants to interview ghouls for an article, and she received an anonymous tip from an unknown number about our shop. I figured everyone would like to hear about that.” 

“Someone knows about us?!” The white-haired man hissed. 

“Do you think the CCG knows?” Yoosung asked, running his fingers through his hair. 

“This is troubling indeed,” the businessman murmured, “how did you find her?” 

“I ran across Luciel just as he was about to eat her,” Jaehee explained, gesturing to Luciel. When Minhee glanced behind, she noticed he had taken his mask off, and she could actually see his face now. She was surprised she hadn’t seen him at the cafe during her days there. She definitely would’ve noticed the bright red hair of his. 

“Seven, you know we agreed to wait a month before any more feeding,” the white-haired man scolded. Minhee was confused as to who ‘Seven’ was for a moment, before making the connection that it must’ve been a nickname for Luciel. 

“I know, Zen, but I caught her literally watching us from across the street. I figured she was a dove and I didn’t wanna risk her going back to the CCG and bringing back a raid!” Seven protested. 

“This isn’t the issue right now,” Jaehee intervened, “I stepped in before any harm could be done to her, so that’s not our issue right now. We have bigger things to worry about. Like what we’re going to do about the fact that someone knows about our organization and is spreading the information.” 

Everyone went quiet for a moment and nodded at Jaehee’s analysis. Minhee was unsure of what to do, so she just stayed silent and watched the whole affair. After a moment, the businessman turned to the teal-haired man. “V, you’re our leader. What do you recommend our course of action should be?” 

‘V’ as he was apparently called, looked up from where he’d been staring at his shoes. “I think we should stop talking as if she isn’t in the room and instead just ask her about the situation directly,” he said, walking towards Minhee. She had to resist the urge to take a step back out of instinct. “I’m so sorry for all of this. You must be very confused. What is your name?” 

Eyes wide, Minhee had to take a deep breath to steady herself before answering. “I-I’m Minhee Choi.” 

V smiled at her, and it was a genuine one. For the first time since Seven had first pinned her against that wall, she didn’t feel as if her life was in imminent danger. “It’s nice to meet you, Minhee. I’m V, the head of this organization. You’ve already met Jaehee and Luciel. And then the man with the white hair is Zen, the blond is Yoosung, and the man to my right is Jumin. You said you’re a journalist?” 

Glancing around at all the people staring at her, Minhee gave a small nod. “Yes, I, um, I am. I work with _The Moon and Sun_. I want to do a piece interviewing ghouls about their lives so that us humans can gain a better understanding of what you all are like.” Minhee’s eyes flitted from the faces of each of the people in front of her, trying to gauge their reactions to her. 

“That’s… really cool, actually,” Yoosung muttered from behind Zen. 

“It’s probably not the truth,” Jumin said, crossing his arms over his chest, “if anything, it’s more likely that she’s an undercover ghoul investigator.” Minhee had to bite her tongue to keep from denying that. They wouldn’t believe her either way. All it would do is serve to piss them off. 

“We don’t know that for sure,” Zen argued. 

“Since when do humans want to know the ghouls side of things?” Seven suddenly jumped in. “They hate us. Always have, always will. There’s no way any journalist would want do to that story.” Minhee’s hands curled into fists at the bottom hem of her jacket. 

“And, even if for some reason they did,” Jumin picked up the thought where Seven trailed off, “no human journalist would risk their life by finding a bunch of ghouls just for an interview.”  
That did it. 

“I know you have no reason to believe me, but I’m telling you, I am not with the CCG. I want to do this piece because I want to start trying to bridge the gap between humans and ghouls. And I think if humans don’t start hearing from you guys directly, it’s never gonna happen. But obviously you can’t go public about that because you’ll be arrested. So, I figured me interviewing some ghouls myself and keeping them anonymous in my piece could be the alternative solution.” 

The room fell silent, everyone staring at Minhee with blank faces as her words sunk in. Minhee straightened back up, the realization that she just got angry at a group of people that could kill her with little to no effort if they wanted to. 

“I apologize for speaking about you without talking to you directly, Minhee,” V began, “but you can understand our hesitation to trust a human that has found our organization through such mysterious means as yourself. Being ghouls, we have to live on edge at all times, watching for the CCG and making sure our secret doesn’t get out. We cannot trust you solely at your word.” 

Minhee nodded. “Yeah, of course I get that. Would you like to see the text on my phone as proof?” 

“That would be great,” V said. Minhee pulled her phone from her pocket, and opened up to the text. She handed it to V, who glanced at it for a moment, a frown pulling at his brows. He handed the phone to Jumin, who did the same before passing it to Jaehee. This went on through all the people in the room, until it eventually got to Seven. 

“Seven, do you think you could trace the number and find out who sent that to her?” Yoosung asked. 

“I’m not sure…” Seven said, biting his lip, “possibly. I’ll need a bit of time though, plus complete access to your phone, Minhee.” 

Minhee ran a hand through her hair. She didn’t like the idea of this guy she barely knew looking through her phone, but this could be the only way to get them to trust her. These were probably the only ghouls she was going to find. And she couldn’t lose this story. She had already gotten way further than she should’ve. 

“...how do I know you’re not going to steal my credit card info or anything?” Minhee asked, looking over Seven with a wary gaze. 

Seven snorted. “Dude, I’m a hacker for a living. If I wanted your credit card info, believe me, I wouldn’t need your phone to get it. I know your full name and where you work, and that’s more than enough info. Any secret information on your phone you might be worried about me stealing I could already get without it. The only thing I need your phone for is to track the Unknown number.” 

A hacker? Of all the day jobs for a ghoul to have, that was not one Minhee would think of off the top of her head. 

“Huh. Well, okay then. I guess I just gotta take your word that you won’t hack my bank account or anything?” Minhee asked, holding her phone out towards Seven. 

“There are a lot wealthier people I could hack if I wanted money, so don’t worry about that,” Seven said as he took the phone from her. Turning to the others, Seven held up the phone with one hand. “I’m gonna go get started on this. Let me know what you decide to do with her,” he said, pointing to Minhee. 

And with that, Seven turned on his heel and walked towards a set of stairs leading up that Minhee hadn’t noticed before in the room. 

“Well, now that that’s resolved, let’s move onto the other issue,” Jumin said, raising an eyebrow at Minhee. “What are we going to do with you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There they are... those lovely people...my loves...
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed! Let me know if you want me to continue this in the comments below! 
> 
> Also be sure to follow me on tumblr and message me if you want! I love talking to new people :)
> 
> cactusskiddo.tumblr.com


	3. In Your House of Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhee learns a bit more about the RFA Cafe's history

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I wrote this instead of studying for my finals next week so here's to that sweet sweet procrastination! 
> 
> also the chapter title is taken from the song 'house of memories' by panic! at the disco
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I'm really excited to write the next one :)

“Hey Yoosung!” MC greeted as she stepped into the RFA Cafe. 

“Hey Minhee! You want the usual?” Minhee nodded and Yoosung turned around to get to work, while Minhee walked over to her usual table in the cafe. Sitting down, she heard the door to the shop open again, and laughed to herself when she saw a muscular woman in a suit look around the shop in confusion, before her gaze settled on Minhee. 

“Where were you?” The woman demanded, her voice clipped with a thick russian accent. 

“Sorry Irina, I must’ve lost you when everyone was getting off the train,” Minhee explained sheepishly. 

Irina frowned. “Fine. But if it happens again, I will report it to Jumin Han.” 

Minhee nodded. “I understand. Do you want some coffee? I can order some for you.” 

Irina shook her head. “I do not need any. I will be sitting in the back of the cafe. Let me know when you are going to leave.” 

Minhee nodded again, and Irina stalked off to to a lone table near the back of the cafe. Minhee had invited her to sit with her before, but the guard always refused. She always had to keep Minhee within her line of sight, but nothing more. 

Minhee was determined to get that woman to enjoy some coffee with her one day. 

“Minhee, your latte’s ready!” Yoosung called out. 

Standing up, Minhee went to grab her drink. “Thank you, Yoosung,” she said, taking a sip and sighing at the taste, “you always make them so well.” 

Yoosung blushed. “I’m not as good as Jaehee, but I’m learning,” he glanced to the corner of the cafe where Irina had settled herself, and shuddered. “Are you okay with having her follow you around all the time? She’s really scary.” 

Minhee shrugged. “She’s not that bad once you get used to her.” 

“Well, if you say so,” Yoosung said, turning back to his work. 

Heading back to the table, Minhee resettled herself and pulled out her laptop, prepared to blast through the current small article she was working on. Before she could though, she glanced back at Irina, and sighed to herself as she remembered that it had only been a week since the night she’d met the ghouls of the RFA Cafe. She could still recall the conversation surrounding what they were going to do with her nearly word for word. 

_”I’m telling you V, we can’t just let her go back to her life. The risk of her turning us into the CCG is too high,” Jaehee said, looking to the teal-haired man who was keeping his gaze fixed on the ground._

_“Might I suggest again: we just kill her and get it over with?” Seven suggested from the corner, where he was sitting with Minhee’s phone plugged into his laptop._

_V shook his head. “No Luciel, for the last time we are not killing her,” V said, giving him a pointed look, “if she really is a journalist who wants to write an article on us, the implications could flip the way humans view ghouls on its head entirely. And not only that, we still need to find out who gave her the tip about us.”_

_“Also, I really don’t want to kill humans unnecessarily!” Yoosung chimed in._

_“This wouldn’t be unnecessarily, this would be for our own safety-” Jaehee was cut off by Jumin suddenly looking up from his phone._

_“I have a solution,” he announced. Everyone in the room looked up at him, Minhee included. She played with the hem of her skirt, a nervous habit she had yet to get rid of. This was either going to be a really good compromise, or a really bad one._

_“I suggest we let Minhee go,” Jumin began._

_“But sir-”_

_“But I will hire a bodyguard to follow her at all times during the day, and stay in her apartment at night. If she goes anywhere near a CCG building, the bodyguard will stop her. And if she makes any phone calls, the guard will be right there to listen to what she says to ensure she doesn’t reveal any information about us. Along with that, Luciel can bug her phone so that he’ll be able to read her texts and emails, so that he will know if she uses those methods to talk about us”_

_The room was quiet for a moment as everyone thought about Jumin’s idea. While Minhee wasn’t thrilled about the fact that she wouldn’t have any privacy, considering the alternative was death, it was a pretty good option._

_“That… could actually work,” V said, scratching his chin, “Minhee, what do you think?”_

_Minhee blinked, not expecting V to ask for her opinion. “Um, I’m okay with it I guess. But how long will it be for?”_

_“Until we determine if we can trust you,” Jumin answered, already looking back to his phone. “Assistant Kang, start looking up female bodyguards we can hire to follow Minhee. Preferably ones well-versed with confidentiality.”_

_Jaehee sighed and nodded. “I will begin to do so right now, Mr. Han,” Jaehee said, pulling out her phone as well._

_“Then it’s settled,” V said, “while Luciel works to track the anonymous tip, and while we determine if you’re trustworthy, you will be followed by a bodyguard at all times.”_

_Minhee saw Yoosung sigh in relief, while Zen flashed her a smile._

_This was going to be interesting._

After that, Minhee had stayed the night at the cafe, until the bodyguard arrived around noon the next day. Since then, Minhee had been continuing life as normal. She went to work, continued to write articles, and visited the RFA Cafe frequently. When her co-workers asked why she had a bodyguard standing by her desk at the office, she had explained it away by saying she was dating someone with a lot of money, and that he was paranoid about her safety. When they asked for his name, she said he didn’t want her to reveal who he was just yet, because he was a semi well-known public figure. 

Her co-workers were interested and tried to pry at her for more info, but dropped it when she made it clear she wasn’t going to budge. 

It wasn’t bad having Irina follow her around all day. It was a little awkward for public transportation, but for the most part the woman kept her distance and respected Minhee’s privacy. At night, she was switched out with another bodyguard, a woman named Tanya. She didn’t interact with Tanya as much, considering she was sleeping for most of the time Tanya was around. It was a little creepy knowing someone was monitoring her even while she slept, but Tanya never stayed in the bedroom and watched her that intently. She just stayed in the living room, doing god knows what during the night. 

Minhee always made sure to leave some food for her in the fridge in case she got hungry during the night. For the first few days, the food was left untouched. The fourth morning though, Minhee found the plates washed and dried in her cabinets. 

The bell rung as another customer walked into the shop, and Minhee’s eyes flickered up from her computer as she looked at the patron. It was just someone she didn’t know. Probably a ghoul though. As it turned out, ghoul-run coffee shops weren’t all that uncommon, considering coffee was one of the few ‘human things’ ghouls could consume normally. And they were popular hang out spots for ghouls in the area, as it was one of the few places they could meet up and talk about what was going on without fear of being overheard. 

Of course, Minhee got a few weird glances from the ghoul patrons there, but for the most part they just sat far away from her. 

Looking back to her computer, Minhee took another sip of her coffee and got to writing. Her current article was on a new social media platform on the rise. A fluff piece, technically. Nothing groundbreaking. She didn’t mind these pieces. While she loved covering important issues, she didn’t mind writing fun stuff about the new fashion trend or food blogger she found. Sometimes it was nice to forget about all the serious stuff going on and just focus on more casual things. 

Hours passed. The cafe got busy, and then it got quiet, and then it got busy again. She felt bad for Yoosung. He was clearly still new, and struggled to handle the rushes by himself. 

Near closing time, long after the sun had set, Zen came in. When Minhee saw him, she waved him over, gesturing for him to sit with her. 

“Hey little lady,” Zen said as he sat down across from her. 

“Hi Zen,” she greeted, giving him a bright smile. Of all the RFA members, Zen and Yoosung were the friendliest to her, and so she spoke to them the most. She really enjoyed hanging out with Zen. Once you got past the narcissistic exterior, he was actually a sweet and caring guy. 

“How’s your article going?” Zen asked, reaching in his bag to pull something out. 

“Going pretty good. I’ll probably be finished with it tomorrow,” Minhee said. She looked at the stack of papers Zen had pulled out, and realized it was a script for a play. “New role?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Zen nodded and held up the script for her to see. “Yeah, I just landed it today! Rehearsal starts in two days, and I want to make sure I’m prepared.” 

“That’s awesome, Zen! I’m sure you’re going to be great!” 

“Thanks Minhee.” 

After that, the two of them lapsed into a calm silence. Zen studied his script while Minhee continued to work on her article, as the cafe around them slowly emptied out. Soon enough, Minhee looked up to see Yoosung was locking the doors, and realized they were the only ones left. 

“Yoosung, do you need any help cleaning up?” Minhee asked as Yoosung got a mop out. 

“Nah I’m okay, thank you though, Minhee! I’m the one getting paid for this anyway, not you.” 

Zen smiled and turned to Minhee. “He’s a good kid, isn’t he?” 

Minhee nodded. “Yeah, he is,” she paused and glanced back to Yoosung. “Why does he wear the eyepatch? Is there something wrong with his eye?” 

Zen stiffened up at the question, and bit his lip as his eyes flickered back to his script. “He has a hard time controlling his kakugan, so instead of risking it appearing in public he just wears the eyepatch instead.” 

“Kakugan?” Minhee questioned, cocking her head to the side. 

“That’s what we call our ‘ghoul eyes’. You know, when they turn black and red,” Zen explained, pointing to his own eye. 

Minhee frowned. “But he only needs to cover one of his kakugan?” 

Zen sighed. “He only has one.” 

Ghouls could have only one ghoul eye? “Is that normal?” Minhee asked. 

“No, it’s not,” Zen said, shaking his head, “there’s a reason why Yoosung has only one. But that’s not for me to tell you. You’ll have to ask him yourself.” Minhee nodded, looking back to Yoosung. So there was more to him than just sweet college kid. Minhee made a mental note to remember that. 

“So, can I ask you an unrelated question that I’ve been wondering about ever since I got here?” Minhee asked. 

“Shoot.” 

“What does the RFA stand for?” 

Zen was silent for a moment. His eyes looked away from hers again, and he shifted in his seat before speaking. “This is gonna require a bit of a long explanation. It stands for ‘Rika’s Fundraising Association’.” 

“Who’s Rika?” 

“She was the leader of our organization before V. She created our group wanting it to be a charity organization. She liked helping others, so she wanted a place where she could help ghouls who were in a tough spot. Like if they couldn’t get their own food for some reason, we would help with that. Or if a ghoul kid was orphaned by the CCG, we would find them a new place to stay. Just stuff like that.” 

Minhee blinked. “That sounds… really great actually. Rika seems like she’s a good person.” 

Zen nodded. “She… was. But then about a year and a half ago she committed suicide. No one’s sure why. Not even V knew, and he was her fiance.” Minhee sucked in a breath. V was engaged? And his fiancee killed herself? A pang of sympathy rushed through her for the man. 

“That’s awful. I’m so sorry you guys had to go through that,” Minhee said softly. 

“Thank you. I think out of everyone, Yoosung and V are the most torn up about it. Yoosung and her were cousins, and they were really close. So like, don’t bring her up around him if you can avoid it.” 

Minhee nodded. “Of course. Thank you for telling me all of this, Zen.” 

“Yeah, no problem. You’re probably not going anywhere anytime soon, so you deserve to know a bit about us at least.” 

Minhee snorted, ignoring the implication that it was going to be a while before she got her interview. Right then, Yoosung walked over, the mop no longer in his hand. 

“Hi guys. Zen, are you ready to go?” Yoosung asked, shifting from foot to foot. 

“Yeah, I am. Minhee, you have your bodyguard so you can get home alright, right?” Zen asked, standing up. 

“Yeah, I’m fine, but where are you guys going if you don’t mind my asking?” 

Zen and Yoosung gave each other side-eyes, and after a moment, Zen sighed. “I guess it won’t hurt to tell you since you already know about us. Since the restriction V put in place is no longer in effect, we’re going hunting.” 

Oh. Hunting. Killing humans. The thing they needed to do to survive. 

Minhee couldn’t help but think how much nuance that would add to her story if she truly saw all aspects of ghoul life. 

“Could I come with?” She asked. 

Both of their jaws dropped, and only then did Minhee realize _hey asking to see your ghoul friends eat other humans might be a little weird_. 

“Are you- you’re serious?” Yoosung asked, visible eye wide as he gaped at her. 

Well, she’d already started down this path, might as well go all the way. 

“I know, it sounds weird. But my piece is about documenting the ghoul experience, and that includes the unpleasant parts.” If Minhee looked behind her, she would see even Irina gaping at her. 

Zen closed his eyes for a moment as he seemingly tried to process what was going on. “You… you want to watch us kill people? Minhee, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” 

“What, you think I’m gonna try to make a break for it while you’re distracted? Please, I know running from one ghoul, let alone two, is a death wish.” 

Zen sighed and shook his head. “No Minhee, that’s not what I meant at all. What I mean is I don’t know if it would be okay for your mental health to… witness murder.” 

“Zen, I appreciate your concern, but I know what I’m getting into. Journalists go to war zones all the time. I’m just gonna think of it like that.” 

Zen looked to Yoosung, who seemed like he had no clue what to do. 

“I don’t know…” Zen started. 

“It’s for the article though, Zen,” Yoosung said. “I want to help Minhee in any way she needs, and if she wants to do this… I dunno. I think she should.” 

“But Yoosung, you know better than anyone how horrifying it can be to witness that for the first-” 

“Exactly. And I’m saying I think she can handle it,” Yoosung cut him off. 

“You nearly had a mental breakdown your first time!” Zen protested. 

“Yeah, I know! And if you had asked me before that, ‘hey Yoosung what would your reaction be to witnessing someone eat another person’, I would probably say ‘have a mental breakdown’. If Minhee is saying she can handle it, then I’m pretty sure she knows what she’s talking about.” 

“...thank you, Yoosung,” Minhee said, touched by his faith in her self-judgement. “Zen, if it’s going to make you uncomfortable to have me there, that’s fine I won’t go. This is just something I feel I should do.” 

Zen looked between her and Yoosung, biting his lip as he agonized over the decision with himself. After a few seconds of silence, he sighed and looked at his feet. 

“Fine. You can come. But if you can’t handle it, please tell me so I can get you out of there.” 

Minhee smiled and jumped to her feet. “I will, I promise.” 

“Well then,” Zen said, clapping his hands together, “Yoosung, grab your mask, we’re heading out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minhee is just really passionate about her articles okay
> 
> So like I'm aware kakugan is Japanese for shining eye, and that it _might've_ been more appropriate to either use the English translation or a Korean alternative since this takes place in Korea and it wouldn't make much sense for them to be using a Japanese term, but in the TG manga even though it's translated to English they still call it a kakugan so like I'm just gonna stick with that here
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed! Ty for all the love so far! 
> 
> Check me out on tumblr!
> 
> cactusskiddo.tumblr.com


	4. Show Them All You're Not the Ordinary Type

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!!! This isn't dead!!!
> 
> Sorry this took me so long to update, I had finals and since then things have just been a haze of holiday stuff, but I finally got around to finishing this chapter! 
> 
> Anyway warning for this chapter: there is slight descriptions of, well, eating someone (I don't go into gory detail or anything so it's not bad in my opinion but I'm putting this warning here anyway b/c people have different levels of squeamish), and there's also a fight scene with violence involved
> 
> also the chapter title is taken from the song 'let's kill tonight' by panic! at the disco
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy!

Minhee followed Zen and Yoosung to the back room of the cafe. When Irina stood to follow them, Zen held up a hand and shook his head, and she sat back down. Minhee hoped she wouldn’t be stuck waiting there the entire time they were out, but knowing her she probably would. 

They passed into the room with the table Minhee had been kept in her first night at the cafe, and continued to a set of stairs that led to the second level of the coffee shop. It was basically an apartment, but no one lived there save for the occasional times Seven crashed there after pulling an all-nighter hacking. 

“Minhee, Yoosung, you stay here, I need to go look for something in the back,” Zen said, gesturing to the couch. “Yoosung, you have your mask?” 

Yoosung nodded and Zen gave him a thumbs up. “Good kid. I’ll be back in just a sec.” 

Zen left the living room and headed to the bedrooms in the back, leaving Minhee and Yoosung alone. They were both seated on the couch, and Minhee wasn’t sure what to talk about right now. Hey, how often do you go out and kill people? Hey, thanks for letting me come watch you hunt? 

“Why do you guys wear masks?” Minhee asked after a moment. 

Yoosung perked up from where he’d just been blankly staring at the wall. “Oh! We wear them because when we go out hunting, you know we always run the risk of getting caught by ghoul investigator. If an investigator sees us and our face isn’t covered, they’ll know what we look like in our daily life and obviously that won’t be good for us. So, we wear masks to keep our identities a secret.” 

“Makes sense. What does your mask look like?” 

Yoosung leaned over and reached into the bag by his feet, and pulled out something gold. Holding it up, Minhee realized that the mask was designed in a V shape, with only a single eye hole. When he put it on, Minhee saw the mask covered nearly his entire face except for his mouth, and that the eye hole was over the eye usually covered by his eyepatch. 

“Pretty cool, right!” Yoosung said, taking it off and setting it aside. 

Minhee nodded enthusiastically. She was about to ask Yoosung where he’d gotten it from, when she heard footsteps from behind. Zen stepped into the room and made his way over to the couch, before sitting down beside Minhee. In his hand was something white, and he held his hand out to Minhee, gesturing for her to take it. 

“Here, I went digging and found this for you,” he said as Minhee grabbed it from him. 

Holding it out in front of her, she realized it was a mask. It was all white, and looking at it closer, Minhee realized it was in the shape of a butterfly. 

“We probably won’t run into any ghoul investigators, but in case we do, you should probably wear a mask just in case,” Zen explained as Minhee turned the mask around in her hands. 

“Thank you, Zen,” Minhee murmured. 

“Of course,” Zen said with a light laugh, “if you’re ready to go, we’re gonna head up to the roof.” 

Minhee pushed herself to her feet, brushing invisible dirt off her skirt. “The roof?” 

“We travel by rooftop when we’re hunting,” Yoosung explained, taking a sweatshirt out of his bag and pulling it over his head. 

Minhee must’ve looked nervous at that, because Zen gave her a playful nudge of his elbow. “Don’t worry, sweetie. We’ll help you keep up.” 

Zen led them out of the living room, and down the hall of the apartment. At the very end near a window, there was a pull down ladder. The three of them used it to get up to the roof. 

The night air was cool on her bare arms, and Minhee took a deep breath as she looked at the sea of lights in front of them. It was calming up here. 

Turning, Minhee watched as Yoosung secured his mask onto his face, and pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up. Zen then undid his the ponytail his hair was currently in, and tied it so it was secured into a low bun. 

“What’s your mask?” Minhee asked as Zen rifled in his jacket pocket. 

“Take a look,” Zen said, pulling it out and holding it up to his face. 

Minhee almost snorted when she realized it was literally just a phantom of the opera mask but in a deep red color instead of white. Considering Zen was a musical actor, she wasn’t really surprised. 

“I think it fits you perfectly,” Minhee said, laughter in her voice. 

Zen flourished his arm in a grand sweeping motion before bowing in front of her. “Thank you my dear,” he crooned, “now, if you would do me the honor of donning your own mask so that we may depart?” From behind her, Minhee heard Yoosung groan. 

Holding up the mask she had in her hands, she pulled it over her face secured the strap around her head, adjusting her hair till it was just right. 

“So? How do I look?” 

“Just like a ghoul,” Zen said with a smile. Looking over her shoulder, he smacked Yoosung up the side of the head when he saw the boy was playing with his phone. “Tell Minhee how good she looks!” 

“Ah! Zen!” Yoosung protested, pocketing his phone and turning to face them. His eyes widened when he saw Minhee, and a wide grin spread across what was visible of his face. “Oh my god, you look amazing!” 

“Thanks. Glad to know a mask is all it takes to make people think I’m a ghoul,” Minhee joked, “anyway are we heading out?” 

Zen nodded. “Yup. If you’re comfortable with it, it might be best for you to piggyback on me, because we run pretty fast.” 

“Sounds good.” 

Zen bent down and Minhee leapt up onto to his back, wrapping her arms around his neck while his arms supported her legs. He and Yoosung exchanged a glance, and when Zen nodded, they both took off across the rooftops. 

Zen was right. They did run fast. The wind was rushing past Minhee as Zen and Yoosung jumped from rooftop to rooftop. She was kinda reminded of that scene in Twilight where Bella was on Edward’s back as he sped up that mountain, but then she realized that that movie would’ve been a lot less popular if Edward had to literally cannibalize people to survive instead of just drinking their blood. 

It wasn’t long before they slowed down, both Zen and Yoosung looking around as if they were hearing something Minhee couldn’t. Still keeping Minhee on his back, Zen crept towards the edge of the roof they were currently on, and peered down into an alleyway below. 

It was dark, so Minhee couldn’t see much, but she could make out the faint silhouettes of two figures against the wall of the opposite building. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she noticed that it was a man and a woman, and the man seemed to be pinning the woman to the wall. 

Zen gestured at Yoosung, and the two of them jumped down to a fire escape so they could be closer to the encounter. Now Minhee could hear what they were saying. 

“Please! Stop! I told you I don’t want you as a client anymore!” The woman was afraid, that much was obvious. 

“Oh c’mon, what’s wrong? You’re a whore, you just take the money and do what I want,” the man’s words were practically a hiss, and Minhee felt a sliminess under her skin when he spoke. 

“No, I’m allowed to refuse clients if I don’t feel safe around them. And I don’t feel safe around you. So please, just leave me alone!” Minhee saw Zen’s jaw clench, and he turned to Yoosung. 

“Yoosung, take Minhee. When I count down from three, we’re both gonna jump at the same time. I’ll take care of the asshole, you and Minhee get the girl out of here,” Zen whispered, so low even Minhee had a hard time hearing him. Yoosung nodded, and Minhee climbed off of Zen’s back and onto Yoosung’s without touching the ground. 

“You think I’m dangerous? Well bitch, I’ll show you dangerous.” Zen held up a hand with three fingers on it, and counted down. 

3,

2,

1,

As soon as the final finger disappeared, the two leapt off the fire escape and slammed onto the ground. The man whirled around, hand on the woman’s neck, and narrowed his eyes at the trio. 

“Who the fuck are you supposed to be?” He spat. 

Instead of responding, Zen stepped forward and punched the guy in the face, sending him flying off of the woman and towards the end of the alley. The woman screamed and both Minhee and Yoosung ran towards her. When the woman saw Yoosung, she pressed herself against the wall further, and Minhee gestured for him to step back. 

Minhee held her hands up in what she hoped was a placating gesture, and while the woman didn’t move from her position, she didn’t shrink back further when she approached. Minhee had to stop herself from grabbing the woman to pull her out of the alley, knowing that might make her scream again. 

“We’re not going to hurt you,” she told her, before pointing to the exit of the alley, “just go and get out of here. We’ll take care of this guy.” 

The woman’s pupils were shot and her whole body was trembling as she looked to where Minhee was pointing. Then her eyes flickered back to where Zen was punching the shit out of the guy who had been attacking her, before looking back to Minhee’s face. 

Minhee nodded, silently telling her it was okay, she could trust her. 

“Thank you,” the woman whispered, before she bolted straight out of the alley and into the streets. 

Breathing a sigh of relief, Minhee turned back towards Yoosung, who was staring at Zen. Following his line of sight, she saw Zen crouching over the man, hands resting on his neck. 

“P-Please, don’t do this! I won’t go after her again! I promise!” The man begged, blood splattering onto the ground in front of him as he spoke. 

“Sorry dude, but I don’t trust men who threaten women in alleyways.” Before the man could say anything else, Zen made a shooing motion with his left hand, and Minhee closed her eyes as she heard the unmistakable crack of breaking a neck. 

When she reopened her eyes, she saw the man lying lifeless on the ground, eyes blank as they bored right into where she was standing. Zen let go of the man’s head, brushing his hands off against his jeans as he walked to the side of the man and crouched down. Minhee watched Zen roll the guy onto his back, before ripping his shirt in half. 

He reached a hand towards the man, but paused, and turned to look at Minhee. 

“You may not want to look at this,” Zen warned, his eyes entirely black, save for the red iris. 

“I’m okay,” Minhee insisted. Zen seemed uncertain, but sighing, he shook his head. Reaching forward, his hand plunged into the man’s abdomen. 

Minhee was glad Zen had already snapped the guys neck. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to keep her cool if he was screaming in pain. 

She wasn’t sure why she wanted to watch this. This wasn’t important to her article. Was it morbid curiosity? A desperation to see if it was true? If the people she’d befriend _truly_ were ghouls? Maybe it was like when you’re driving and you see a car accident, and you can’t help but stare. A combination of fascination and being glad it’s not you in that accident. 

Either way, Minhee should’ve felt something as she watched this human being get eaten by what most people would call a monster. But she didn’t. She wasn’t afraid, she wasn’t nauseous, it was just… something she was witnessing. Yoosung however, seemed to not be doing so well. 

“Yoosung, c’mere, it’s been longer since you’ve eaten,” Zen said after a few minutes, blood dribbling from the corners of his mouth. Having been distracted by Zen, Minhee hadn’t noticed that Yoosung was standing in the corner of the alley, hunched over with his arms crossed over his chest. 

“I… don’t know if I can,” Yoosung said, looking down at his shoes. 

Zen’s mouth twisted with sympathy. “You don’t want what happened last time you didn’t eat to happen again.” Yoosung flinched at that, as if Zen had just thrown acid at him. 

“I’m just still not used to it, you know?” Yoosung’s voice was soft, barely audible from where Minhee was standing. 

“I know, but I’ll help you. Just c’mere and close your eyes. I’ll hand you some,” Minhee wasn’t sure what was going on, or why Yoosung seemed so reluctant to eat, but she didn’t dare say anything for risk of interrupting the moment. 

Shoulders sagging, Yoosung trudged over to where Zen was crouched over the body and kneeled down beside him. Through the single eye hole in his mask, she watched Yoosung close his eye and hold his hand out. Zen handed him a chunk of meat, and she noticed how Yoosung flinched when it touched his hand. 

Quietly, the two of them ate while Minhee sat with her back against the cool brick wall. It was calming, this quiet. Just the sounds of the city night around them, interrupted by the occasional crunch from her friends. 

After a bit, Yoosung sighed and shifted away. “I think I’m full,” he said. Opening his eye, Minhee could see it was now black and red as well. 

“You sure?” Zen asked. Yoosung nodded, head down as he stared at his blood-soaked hands. 

“Are you okay, Yoosung?” Minhee asked quietly as she approached Yoosung, kneeling down in front of him. 

Yoosung looked up, his one visible eye flashing with fear. “Minhee! I, uh, I’m fine,” he stammered, shoving his hands under his legs to hide them. 

“You’re okay Yoosung, I don’t mind,” Minhee explained, “if you need to keep eating, you should. No sense in wasting it when the guy is already dead.” 

Yoosung sighed and went to run his hands through his hair, but stopped when he remembered the blood. “I don’t like eating people, it disgusts me and makes me nauseous.” 

Minhee frowned. “Is that… normal, for a ghoul? I mean, you’ve been eating humans your whole life. Has it always been this way?” 

Yoosung bit his lip, and Minhee wondered if she had gone too far. She still didn’t know these guys that well, and considering there was a dead body in the corner, this wasn’t exactly a good time to be sharing deep stuff with one another. 

She was just about to retract her question, when a voice sounded out at the end of the alley. 

“Wow, I didn’t think we were gonna get lucky enough to find some ghouls in the middle of a hunt!” Whipping her head towards the voice, Minhee’s eyes widened when she saw two men standing at the end of the alley. 

“Hey! Be serious! This isn’t something to get excited about!” Another voice, belonging to the man on the right, hissed. Grabbing the other one’s arm, the man stepped into the alley, holding a briefcase in front of him. “All three of you freeze! We’re with the CCG!” 

Minhee wasn’t even able to blink before she was being shoved to the back of the alley, Zen and Yoosung both rushing in front of her. 

“Stay behind us,” Zen hissed, crouching into an attack position. Minhee pressed herself against the wall, heart pounding as she watched both of the investigators ready themselves. 

The one with the briefcase pressed a button on it, and suddenly a long spear seemed to grow from the metal case. The investigator twirled the spear in his hand, before pointing it in an attack position in front of him. The man without a briefcase pulled out a gun, and pointed it at Yoosung. 

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Minhee. These guys thought she was a ghoul. If she got shot, she could die. 

Fuck. 

Shrinking further into the wall, Minhee prayed the shadows hid her from the investigator’s view. 

It was a silent standoff between the two ghouls and the two investigators. They all stared at one another, daring someone to make the first move. 

The one with the gun aimed at Yoosung turned the safety off, and Minhee watched him pull the trigger. 

Then, everything exploded. 

Yoosung leapt out of the way, moving faster than a human ever could. Zen charged at the investigator with the spear, ducking under the weapon and barreling straight into the guy. Yoosung meanwhile, did a run jump off the wall of the alley and leapt at Gun Guy. Zen drove Spear Guy into the wall, but wasn’t fast enough to pin the arm holding the spear to the wall as well. 

Minhee watched the spear go through Zen’s shoulder, and he hissed in pain before jumping backwards. Zen ran at the guy again, dodging his attempts to stab him and throwing punches wherever he could. Zen attempted to grab the spear, but Spear Guy jerked it and it ended up going through Zen’s hand instead. Minhee winced as Zen stepped back again, wiping his hand off on his jeans. This time, Spear Guy charged at him, and Zen was barely able to dodge the spear heading for his stomach. 

“Guess I gotta use my kagune for this,” Minhee heard Zen mutter. Then, she watched as a blood red… limb seemed to grow from the upper part of Zen’s back. The kagune wrapped around Zen’s right arm, eventually covering the top of it entirely. The end sharpened into an impossible long blade, and Zen grinned as he ran back towards Spear Guy. 

Meanwhile, Yoosung seemed to still be dodging bullets from Gun Guy. Minhee watched him dive for Gun Guy’s legs, but ended up getting a bullet to the shoulder. Yoosung yelped in pain and rolled out of the way, scrambling to his feet as he tried to dodge more bullets. 

“Use your kagune!” Zen yelled while attempting to impale Spear Guy, who just barely managed to dodge it. 

“I’m trying!” Yoosung shouted back. Gun Guy used this momentary distraction to shoot a few more bullets into Yoosung, and Minhee gasped as Yoosung had to grip the wall for support. 

Gun Guy got close while Yoosung’s back was turned, and Minhee was about to call out for him, when Yoosung whirled around and Minhee saw his kagune erupt. 

The two red masses that grew from Yoosung’s shoulders reminded Minhee of wings, with the way they curled over the top of his body. Gun Guy’s eyes widened as Yoosung reached back with his kagune, and knocked the investigator into the wall. Gun Guy pulled himself to his feet and began to fire recklessly at Yoosung, who jumped up to the fire escape above his head to dodge. He smirked, and his red wings crystallized into what reminded Minhee of gemstones made of blood. Shards of this strange crystal material began to shoot out at the investigator, who had to run to dodge them. 

Looking back to Zen, Minhee saw Spear Guy leap back again to avoid another hit from Zen’s kagune. Zen grunted as he lunged again, pinning the guys arm against the wall with his non-kagune covered arm. 

“Drop it,” Zen hissed. The man glared at him, before the spear clattered to the floor. Using his foot, Zen pushed it away, and Minhee watched the strange thing roll towards her. Looking up, she watched as Spear Guy reached into his pocket with his free hand and pull out a dagger, instantly bringing it up to Zen’s throat the same time Zen brought his kagune blade up to the guy’s throat. 

The two stood at a standstill, daring the other to do it. 

Minhee looked back to Yoosung, who had dropped down from his perch on the fire escape and was back to fighting in close quarters with Gun Guy. He wasn’t able to help Zen right now. 

Glancing down at the spear again, Minhee reached out and picked it up. It was odd, it didn’t seem like a normal weapon. In her hands, it almost… felt alive? There was a humming energy underneath its surface, and Minhee didn’t know why, but she didn’t like holding it. 

She pushed herself to her feet, seeing that Zen and Spear Guy were still at a standstill. Tightening her grip on the spear, she ran forward towards the two of them. In the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but think of how this really wasn’t how she expected her night to go. 

“MOVE!” She shouted. Looking to Minhee, Zen started when he saw her running at him with a spear, and fell backwards away from the dagger as soon as she brought the blunt end of the spear down on Spear Guy’s hands. The dagger went flying, leaving Spear Guy defenseless as Minhee pointed the sharp end at his throat. 

She pressed the spear against his skin, but didn’t pierce it. All it took was one glance at his eyes for her to realize she couldn’t kill him. She was a journalist for fuck’s sake, not a murderer! This entire thing had already gotten way out of her control. She wasn’t going to kill him, and she couldn’t let Zen kill him either. 

“Hey,” she said to Zen, not moving her eyes from Spear Guy’s, “can we knock him out instead of killing him?” 

She expected Zen to argue. She expected him to ask her what the hell she was thinking, and to say no way they could let him live. 

Zen pushed himself to his feet beside her, still breathing heavily. “If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do.” 

Spear Guy’s eyes darted between Minhee and Zen, clearly trying to figure out what was going on. His gaze locked with Minhee’s, and his eyes narrowed. “It doesn’t matter if you spare my life right now, I will kill you the next time I see you.” 

Minhee saw Zen change the shape of his kagune from a blade to a blunt end. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not a killer.” She moved the spear away from his throat, and before he could speak again, Zen sent a kagune fist straight at his face, knocking the guy out cold. 

Both of them then turned to see how Yoosung was faring, and saw he was bleeding from several places now. He knocked the gun from Gun Guy’s hands with his kagune, and it went skidding into the street. 

“We’re not killing them. Just knock him out!” Zen called out. Yoosung nodded, and used his kagune to do the same thing Zen had just done to the other guy. 

With both investigators knocked out now, everything was quiet. 

Minhee didn’t like it. 

Dropping the spear, Minhee fell to her knees as she tried to think through what just happened. She’d just fought CCG agents. She’d just saved a ghoul from a CCG agent. She was just to interview these guys for fuck’s sake! Not commit a crime!

But she wasn’t going to stand by and watch Zen get his throat slit open. 

“Minhee, are you okay?” Zen asked in a soft voice, crouching down beside her. 

Minhee kept her gaze on the ground, but nodded. “I’m okay. I just need a minute.” 

Zen stared at her for another moment, as if he’s unsure, but then he stood up. “Yoosung, you got shot a lot with those weird bullets the CCG uses. You should go eat the rest of that guy to heal up.” Yoosung opened his mouth to argue, but stopped himself, knowing Zen was right. He trudged over to the body, and went back to feeding as if nothing had happened. 

Zen stayed beside Minhee, not saying anything, just waiting for her to recuperate. Minhee took deep breaths, doing her best to stay calm. She was fine. Zen was fine. Yoosung was fine. Everything was fine. 

After a moment, she looked up and locked eyes with Zen. His eyes were back to normal now. “Thank you for keeping me safe during that.” 

Zen snorted and shook his head. “Are you kidding? Minhee, if anyone was keeping anyone safe, it was you making sure I didn’t die. I should be the one thanking you. So seriously, thank you.” 

“...you’re welcome, Zen.” 

Zen smiled at her before pushing himself to his feet. He offered a hand, and she took it and let him pull her up. “Let’s get Yoosung and get out of here. We can have Yoosung make us some coffee when we get back.” 

“God _please_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes Twilight exists in this universe, and no I don't know how the existence of ghouls would effect the creation of the vampire myth (hell maybe vampires exist in this universe who knows) and I'm too tired to go into that rn but either way I made an unintentional twilight parallel and had to call myself out for it so that's why Minhee references it
> 
> ANYWAY we got a fight! I feel brain dead now after writing that entire fight scene in one sitting but oh well it was worth it. Also in case it wasn't clear (though I'm sure it was) Zen has a koukaku type kagune and Yoosung has an ukaku type (it was fun to brainstorm what type of kagune each of the member's would have, and dw we'll see the others kagune soon) 
> 
> Also Zen is a theater kid there is no way his mask wouldn't be the Phantom's mask
> 
> oh and sorry there's been no shippy stuff yet! It'll happen eventually, but I'm a major slowburn person so it might be a while whoops, hope you guys don't mind
> 
> So anyway I hope you guys enjoyed!! I'll try to be quicker about the next update but we'll see how it goes. Thank you guys for the comments so far! Seeing that people enjoy it is spurring me to continue this, ily guys <3
> 
> Feel free to hmu on tumblr if you wanna talk to me about mysmes or tokyo ghoul or anything!!  
> cactusskiddo.tumblr.com


	5. You Don't Have to Keep It Quiet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The RFA discusses the aftermath of Minhee's night out with Zen and Yoosung, and Minhee finally gets her first interview done

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys!! this chapter took a while to write, but hey it's longer than usual! (I think) 
> 
> you get an interview this chapter!! finally the whole premise of this fic is actually starting up!
> 
> also the chapter title comes from the song 'come out and play' by billie eilish
> 
> thanks so much for reading!!! Hope you guys enjoy this!!

“You did _what_?” 

While they might’ve escaped the wrath of the CCG, Minhee, Zen, and Yoosung hadn’t escaped the wrath of Jumin Han. 

“She said she wanted to come along for her article!” Yoosung explained. 

“Do either of you have any idea how foolish that was? She could’ve called CCG agents when you weren’t looking. She could’ve screamed while someone was walking by. She could’ve run out into the street. You put yourselves at major risk,” Jaehee said, eyes narrowed as she folded her hands in front of her coffee cup. 

When the trio had gotten back to the cafe, they had found the rest of the RFA members waiting for them. Jumin had explained that Irina had told him about Minhee going off alone with Yoosung and Zen to hunt, so he called everyone else over so they could have a discussion about how stupid that was. 

Minhee was now standing off to the side rather awkwardly, butterfly mask clutched in her hand as she watched the argument take place. Even though V was the leader of the RFA, he was standing beside Minhee in the corner, seeming just as uncomfortable as she was. 

“Thank you, Assistant Kang. What if CCG agents had shown up? For all we know, Minhee could’ve called CCG agents there,” Jumin added. 

“Okay, first off, stop accusing her of that shit,” Zen said, stepping up so he was face to face with Jumin, “second off, we actually did have a run in with CCG agents.” 

Jaehee gasped at that, while Seven actually stopped typing to look up from his computer. Zen and Yoosung’s expressions didn’t change though, both just seemed calm and… kinda angry? 

“What happened, Zen? Were you hurt?” Jaehee asked, a slight lean forward letting Minhee know she was more concerned than she let on. 

Zen shook his head, and smiled. “No. In fact, Minhee was the one who actually saved my ass. Me and this agent were pressed up against each other, he had a knife to my throat and I had my kagune pressed against his, and I wasn’t really sure how I was gonna get out of that. Then Minhee picked up the quinque he dropped and used it to knock the knife out of his hand, and then pointed the damn thing at the dove’s throat! She totally could’ve used it to knock me out if she wanted, but instead she turned it against the dove!” 

Yoosung raised his hand as if he were in a classroom. “I, um, I was kinda trying to avoid getting shot at the time so I wasn’t really involved but I saw it out of the corner of my eye and can confirm that what Zen said is what happened.” 

For a moment, everyone was rendered speechless. Jumin blinked and opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but then shut it. Jaehee was staring intently at her hands, her brows furrowed in concentration. V was rubbing his chin as he stared off into space. And Seven closed his laptop just to gape at Minhee. 

“You… turned a quinque against a dove… to help a ghoul?” Jaehee asked in a soft voice. 

All eyes turned to Minhee. “Uh, well, yeah. I wasn’t gonna just sit there and watch Zen get his throat slit.” 

It was silent for a moment. Then Minhee felt a hand on her shoulder. It was V. 

“I think that this, more than anything, proves that Minhee is someone we can trust.” V smiled at her, and Minhee smiled back. Then he let his hand drop, and walked towards Jumin. “While I agree Zen and Yoosung should not have done something so risky on a whim, I also believe that with this new evidence that Minhee is on our side, you might be inclined to lessen the security detail on her?” V asked Jumin, leaning on the table behind him. 

Jumin looked up to Minhee, before glancing back down at his feet. “Minhee, while I wish to trust you, you must understand both mine and Assistant Kang’s wariness. And while I would like to fully believe that you saved Zen from a ghoul investigator, I also can’t help but wonder if you could’ve been the one to call them there in the first place.” 

The room stilled at that, and Minhee’s eyes widened while Yoosung frowned. 

“That’s ridiculous. Minhee didn’t even have her phone with her!” 

“She could’ve hid it somewhere on her. Like a pocket or something,” Jaehee countered. 

Minhee had to hold herself back from rolling her eyes. Stepping into the center of the room, she gestured down to her dress. “Look at what I’m wearing. Do any of you guys see any pockets on this thing? There’s literally nowhere I could’ve hidden my phone.” 

“...what about her bra?” Jumin suggested. 

“Okay, so like, not to be weird or anything, but Minhee was literally piggybacking on me for a good amount of time. I think I would’ve felt if there was a phone digging into my back during that,” Zen said. This was the only time Minhee was grateful to have a man say ‘not to be weird’ when talking about her. 

Seven then decided this was a good time to chime in. “Also like, just to make a point, I can corroborate that it is hard to hide a giant ass phone anywhere when you’re wearing a dress. They don’t have pockets, and if you have a smaller chest like Minhee— no offense by the way— it’s kinda obvious if you have anything shoved in your bra.” 

Minhee mouthed a ‘none taken’ in response to the no offense comment to Seven, who gave her a thumbs up. She had accepted long ago that she was part of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee whether she liked it or not. 

“Luciel, you have good points. But slightly off topic, why do you know the difficulties of wearing dresses?” Jumin asked, raising an eyebrow at Seven. 

Seven winked. “Yoosung knows the answer to that,” he said, fingergunning at the boy. 

Yoosung groaned and dropped his head onto the coffee pick up counter. “He sends me photos of him dressed like a girl all the time.” 

Now it was Minhee’s turn to raise an eyebrow at Seven. He just shrugged and grinned. “What? It’s fun! But cutie Yoosung never wants to see me when I look so pretty.” He fake pouted at Yoosung, who flipped him off in return. 

“Can we stop shitting around and get back to the topic at hand?” Jumin asked. 

“Hey, you’re the one who asked Seven why he knew what it was like to wear dresses,” Minhee pointed out. 

Jumin hung his head in defeat, sighing as he messed with the cufflinks on his suit. Quiet fell over the group once again, most still trying to sort their thoughts out regarding the issue at hand. 

It was Jaehee who spoke first. “I suppose if she couldn’t have hidden a phone anywhere on her, and she helped Zen when he was in a position where she could’ve just have easily helped the dove… then there really is no denying that Minhee is a trustworthy person. At least for now.” 

“Thank you, Jaehee,” Minhee said, giving the woman a small smile. Jaehee nodded, but didn’t respond otherwise. 

“I suppose that Assistant Kang is right,” Jumin began, “while I do not feel comfortable taking all security measures off of Minhee, I think a security guard will no longer be necessary 24/7. I will make adjustments so that a security guard no longer stays in your apartment at night, and will instead wait outside your door and switch off in the morning. Is that alright with you?” 

While that really didn’t change anything, it gave Minhee a tiny bit more privacy than she had before. She shrugged and nodded. “Sounds good to me. But also does this mean I can start interviewing you guys yet? My boss agreed to give me as much time as I needed for this article, but I’d like to at least start if possible so I can show her I’m making progress.” 

Everyone exchanged uncertain glances for a moment, before all eyes went to V. 

“I mean, I see no reason for us to hold off giving Minhee her interviews. While I am busy for the next few weeks, I’m sure someone else in the RFA will be available,” V said, drumming his fingers along the table. 

Minhee looked around the room. “Any volunteers?” 

“I have midterms this week, so I have to study. Maybe next week though?” Yoosung offered. 

“Sounds great!” Minhee agreed. “Anyone else?” 

“I totally would, but I have tech week so I can’t. I’ll let you know as soon as I have the time though!” Zen explained, looking apologetic. 

It was silent for a moment after that, Jumin, Seven, and Jaehee all in a silent standoff. Minhee wasn’t offended. She knew interviews were awkward and couldn’t blame them for their hesitance, especially considering the subject matter. 

Then, 

“I suppose during one of my lunch breaks I could meet you here for an interview?” Jaehee asked, raising her eyebrows. Minhee noticed Jumin breathing a sigh of relief and and Seven fist pumping in the corner of her eye. 

Minhee grinned and clapped her hands together. “Perfect! I’m available tomorrow if that works?” 

“Let me check my schedule,” Jaehee said, pulling out her phone. She tapped a few buttons while Minhee sipped at her coffee, and the rest of the RFA stood around unsure of what to do. “I’m available at noon?” 

“Got it! I’ll see you here at noon then, Jaehee,” Minhee said, pulling out her own phone to put that in her calendar. 

“I’m glad we’ve gotten this worked out amongst ourselves,” V said, “but for now I think it’s time we all go home and get some rest. I’m sure Minhee is exhausted after earlier.” 

Irina stepped from somewhere behind Minhee, making her jump. “Are you ready to leave, Miss Choi?” 

“Yeah, I am, thank you Irina,” Minhee said, bowing at her. The two of them walked towards the exit of the coffee shop, and Minhee waved goodbye to them all as the RFA began to gather their things. Yoosung waved back, and with that, Minhee felt her night was complete. 

That night, just as Jumin promised, Tanya did not stay in her room with her that night. Minhee still made sure to give her some food before she got ready for bed. 

As she showered the day away, Minhee thought back to what she’d witnessed only hours earlier. In her mind’s eye she saw the blood dripping down Zen’s chin, the man eviscerated right in front of her. She remembered how she wasn’t scared or disturbed, a great contrast to Yoosung’s apparent discomfort. 

In the back of her mind, a small voice spoke. 

_That man deserved to be killed,_ it whispered. 

Minhee ignored the shiver down her spine as she turned the water off and got ready for bed, and tried to focus on what she was going to ask Jaehee in her interview tomorrow instead. 

As she lay in her bed, waiting for sleep to claim her, Minhee couldn’t keep her thoughts from wandering back to the hunt. Her mind was swirling with questions. Not about Zen, Yoosung, or the CCG agents, but about herself. Murmurings of _why wasn’t I disturbed?_ and _am I really that heartless?_ bounced off the walls of her skull. 

Minhee wasn’t normal. She knew that. No sane person would’ve asked their editor if they could go and interview ghouls. But she thought she’d be at least a little bit disgusted or horrified by what she saw. Instead, all she’d felt was vague discomfort. But even that was mostly just because of the sight of a human being’s organs, and not even related to the morality of the whole situation. 

She fell asleep wondering how she might feel the next time she went out hunting with the RFA. 

The next morning, Minhee woke up only thinking of her impending interview that day. As she brushed her teeth and straightened her hair she thought of what she was going to ask Jaehee. Was it taboo to ask about her eating habits? Probably. 

After making herself a breakfast of an omelette and some grilled tofu (she offered to make some for Irina but she declined), Minhee checked the time and saw she had to leave soon if she wanted to catch the train to the East Sector on time. So she ate quickly, and made sure to water her plants before she headed out for the day. 

She made the train on time, and as she was leaving the train station to walk to the cafe, a bulletin board caught her eye. Walking over to it, she saw the flyer that had caught her eye was from the CCG. 

They were wanted posters for ghouls. Of course Minhee had seen these before, but she hadn’t thought to check them till now. She scanned a few, not recognizing any of the info on them. Until she got to the last poster. 

It was a notice for three ghouls that had been spotted the night prior. 

**THREE GHOULS SEEN IN EAST SECTOR**

**“Phantom”**  
Male  
5’11”  
Hair: White  
Rating: A~  
Last seen wearing: grey trenchcoat, black pants 

**“One Eye”**  
Male  
5’6”  
Hair: Blond  
Rating: B  
Last seen wearing: blue hooded sweatshirt, khaki pants 

**“Butterfly”**  
Female  
5’1”  
Hair: Brown  
Rating: C  
Last seen wearing: white dress with spaghetti straps 

**If you spot any of these ghouls: DO NOT APPROACH and call emergency services**

“Holy shit,” Minhee muttered as she stared at the poster. She was now considered a ghoul in the CCG’s system. She had a rating and everything. 

Pulling her phone out, Minhee snapped a photo of the poster, having a difficult time keeping her laughter contained. She immediately texted the photo to Zen (who had given her his number after knowing her for about a day), who sent her back a series of laughing emojis. 

She shouldn’t find this funny. She was considered a criminal ghoul by the CCG, and she wasn’t even a ghoul. 

But also this was pretty goddamn funny. 

After staring at the poster in disbelief for a few more moments, Minhee checked the time and decided to get a move on or else she was going to be late. 

Walking into the RFA Cafe, Minhee smiled as the aroma of coffee beans wrapped around her like an old friend. 

“Hi Minhee!” Yoosung greeted from behind the counter. 

“Yoosung!” Minhee said, rushing over to him, “look at what I saw when I got off the train today.” She got the photo of the poster and shoved it in Yoosung’s face. His eye widened as he read what it said, and he gasped when he got to the last ghoul description. 

“They think that you’re-”

“Yeah, they do.” 

“And you’re okay with that?” 

“To be honest I find it kinda hilarious.” 

Yoosung gaped at her, while Minhee just smiled and put her phone back in her pocket. “I need to interview Jaehee now, but we’ll talk later, ‘kay?” Yoosung nodded as Minhee turned around to where she had spotted Jaehee when she walked in, and made her way to that corner of the cafe. 

“Hi Jaehee,” Minhee greeted as she approached. The woman was sitting at a secluded table, head bowed as she typed rapidly on her computer. 

Jaehee glanced up, causing a few strands of brown hair to fall into her eyes as she did so. She straightened up when she saw Minhee standing in front of her. “Oh! Hello Minhee! I’m sorry I didn’t see you come in, I was engrossed in my work as you can tell. Please, sit down,” she said, gesturing to the seat across from her at the table. 

“It’s no problem, I just got here,” Minhee said, sliding into the seat and putting her bag on her lap. “Are you ready to start?” 

Jaehee nodded and cleared her stuff off the table, save for her coffee cup. Minhee put her bag on her lap, and pulled her phone out.

“So,” Minhee began, tapping the record button on her phone, “I’m going to record this interview if you don’t mind, so I can transcribe everything you tell me onto my computer later. Just to make sure everything is on record, you are anonymous. I will not include your name in this interview, nor where we are, and if you include any identifying details about yourself in this interview, I will make sure to cut them out during my transcription.” 

“Thank you,” Jaehee said, dipping her head to Minhee in respect. 

“Of course. Now, you are a ghoul, correct?” Minhee made sure to keep her voice low, though she was sure most of the other patrons in the cafe were ghouls as well. 

“...yes, I am,” Jaehee said, her voice barely above a whisper. 

“Tell me, what was your childhood like? What’s growing up as a ghoul like?” 

Jaehee blinked. “Oh… my childhood? Well, I suppose I should just start at the beginning?” she paused, looking to Minhee for confirmation. Minhee gave her an encouraging nod, and Jaehee took a deep breath before she spoke again. 

“I was an only child. My parents and I, we lived in a nice house in a seaside town. I don’t remember the name of it, but I remember the smell of the ocean that always hung in the air,” Jaehee looked wistfully out the window, and Minhee waited for her to continue, “we lived there till I was about… five I think. I’m not sure why we moved, though I think it had something to do with ghoul investigators. But we moved more inland to an apartment. It wasn’t terrible, but I didn’t like it as much as before. My mother started homeschooling me around that age as well.

“Then, when I was seven, my father didn’t come home one night. Later my mother would admit he’d been killed in a territorial dispute with another ghoul. I understood death by then, so I knew he wouldn’t be coming back. My mother… she shut down. She stopped giving me lessons, and for a time she stopped going out to get food for us. We lived off the rations we kept for emergencies. Then we ran out, and my mother was forced to go out.” 

Jaehee paused again. 

“She came back that night covered in another ghoul’s blood. At the time I didn’t understand what had happened, but in retrospect it was obvious she’d gone and killed the ghoul that had killed my father. After that we had no issue finding food, thanks to the new territory she had claimed. 

“When I was 11, we moved again. This time my mother told me it was because there was a lot more increased CCG activity in our neighborhood, and she thought they might be onto her. So we went to another nearby town, and things were fine for about a year when they caught up to us again. My mom came home one night with gunshot wounds, and it turned out she’d had an altercation with two doves, and had to kill both of them. 

“I know it seems… cruel to talk of killing people so senselessly, but you must understand they were going to kill her. So she did what she had to. After that night we moved again, and we didn’t stay in a single place for any longer than 6 months. She started seeing them more frequently. The CCG were determined to hunt her down, but the whole time she managed to keep me a secret. And this went on for several years. 

“I was 14 when we moved to the town where my mother’s brother lived. She begged him to let us stay with him, but his wife didn’t want to take us in. It would only put more CCG attention on them. Instead, she and I ended up squatting in an abandoned home. As it turns out, having been on the run that long, we had depleted most of our financial resources. Things were fine for a month, before the CCG showed up again.” 

Minhee noticed Jaehee clench her hand into a fist. 

“My mother knew they were closing in on our house. I think someone had tipped them off about a woman of my mother’s height and build entering the abandoned place. So she decided to do something risky to lead them away. She refused to tell me what she was going to do, but said if she wasn’t back by sunrise I had to run and go to my uncle’s house,” she bit her lip, and Minhee watched a bead of blood well up. “Suffice to say, she didn’t return.” 

Normally at this point in an interview, Minhee wouldn’t press for anything else. This was already extremely personal, and she could tell it was paining Jaehe to retell it. (Not to mention, Minhee had teared up at this point.) But this was exactly what she needed for her article. The pain was what was going to show people that these ghouls weren’t emotionless monsters— they were just like humans. 

Minhee kept quiet, but reached out to rest her hand on top of Jaehee’s. Jaehee flinched, but didn’t pull away, and gave a small smile to her in response. 

“I followed my mother’s instructions. I went to my uncle’s house, and told him what had happened. He and my mother hadn’t been on good terms for reasons I never found out, but when he realized I had nowhere to go, he decided to take me in. I remember he argued with his wife, my aunt, about it while I sat in the kitchen with a cup of coffee. She didn’t want me in her house, but he told her they had both caused my mother’s death by not letting her stay with them. So he owed it to her to take care of me. My aunt didn’t try to argue with him after that.

“I… was never welcome there. I was given a bed and food, and my uncle gave me important lessons like how to hunt and such. But I knew I was just a guest that was overstaying her welcome. I wanted to be able to support myself financially so I could move out as soon as possible. So when I was 15 I asked if I could go to actual school. I knew the dangers, and that I could be found and killed any day, but I saw it as the most direct path to getting out of my uncle’s house. 

“It shouldn’t have hurt when my aunt said yes without hesitation. But I must admit, it stung. My uncle resisted a little to the idea, but with prodding from my aunt, he said yes rather quickly. 

“I worked hard. I’d never had a formal education before, so it took a few months to adjust to, but once I had I made sure to achieve the best grades possible. I ended up graduating a year early and got a full scholarship to a university. The day I left for university was the last time I ever saw my aunt and uncle. 

“University went relatively smoothly. I kept to myself most of the time, fearful of being discovered as a ghoul. Once I graduated, I moved here. I was looking for jobs, but also for the first time I became immersed in a ghoul community. I met J-” Jaehee cut herself off from saying Jumin’s name, even though Minhee would’ve left that out if she’d slipped up anyway. 

“I met my _current employer_ through this community. When I mentioned I was job hunting, he offered me a position as his assistant,” Jaehee paused and laughed to herself, “worst decision of my life.” 

“I hated working for that man, and he knows it. I was overworked all the time, and I was more stressed then the times I’d been on the run for my life. After a few years, I decided to quit because I couldn’t take it anymore. I approached him with my resignation, but he instead offered me an alternative position. So I no longer work as his assistant, and instead work here. I hope that is sufficient?” 

Minhee blinked, having been lost in Jaehee’s story. She straightened up, moving her hand away from where it was still resting on Jaehee’s, and tucked her hair behind her ears. 

“That’s… more than sufficient. I only need to ask you a few more things if that’s alright.” 

“Of course,” Jaehee said. 

“What do you think of us humans? Do you think we might ever be able to have a world where ghouls and humans can live in peace? And is there anything you’d like to tell the humans reading this?” 

Jaehee had to think about that. She furrowed her brows and folded her hands in front of her, 

“I’ve always been wary of humans. I know you all are afraid of us, but if anything i’m more fearful of you all. Humans are the ones responsible for my mother’s death, and I know that if I’m ever discovered, I will also be killed,” she hesitated, “but… I don’t dislike humans. My parents always taught me to never forget that even though we ghouls have to eat you, to not forget that we all experience fear and pain. And that it’s not fair to hate humans for killing us, because you’re just afraid of us. But I also believe you must remember, we didn’t ask to be born as ghouls. So when you kill us for just trying to survive, that’s not entirely fair either.

“I want us to live in peace with one another. But I don’t know if it will happen anytime soon, given the way current human-ghoul relations are. But maybe one day.” 

Minhee smiled at Jaehee, and Jaehee smiled back. 

“Thank you so much for being so honest with me. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me today,” Minhee said, as she turned the recorder off. She went to put her phone away, but paused, and turned to meet Jaehee’s gaze once more. “You’re a really strong person. I hope you know that.” 

Jaehee blushed and ducked her head. “I was just doing what I felt I needed to do. I don’t think that counts as strength,” she deflected. 

Minhee frowned at that, and reached forward to grab both of Jaehee’s hands, and interlaced their fingers together. “It does count as strength. You kept yourself going after losing your father, then your mother, and then being stuck in a loveless home. You were determined to do well in school, and you got a scholarship. You’re so so strong. I hope you don’t ever think otherwise, Jaehee.” 

Wide golden eyes stared at her in surprise, before relaxing into fondness. 

“Thank you, Minhee. I won’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm party of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee so therefore Minhee is going to be as well this is an authorial decision
> 
> also wow we're finally getting our first gayhee interactions like wow it only took five chapters whoops
> 
> ALSO SOMETHING I DIDN'T REALIZE BUT I NEVER SPECIFIED IF IRINA AND TANYA WERE HUMANS OR GHOULS AND HERE'S THE ANSWER: Tanya is a human who knows about ghouls but has been deemed trustworthy, which is why she takes the food Minhee offers her. Irina is a ghoul but Minhee doesn't realize she's a ghoul, which is why she doesn't take the food Minhee offers her. Just thought I'd clear that up mainly for myself because I know if I don't I'll slip up and have a ghoul eat food whoops
> 
> and yes the CCG totally thinks Minhee's a ghoul lol (and also I'm pretty sure the wanted posters in Tokyo Ghoul canon don't have their ratings on them but I just wanted to include it anyway so) 
> 
> oh and I hope you guys didn't mind the huge section that was just jaehee telling her story, I got really into her backstory in this au so yeah, and that's totally how it's gonna happen for the other characters when they tell their stories lol
> 
> anyway thank you guys so much for reading I hope you enjoyed!!! make sure to leave a kudos and a comment if you did!!
> 
> my tumblr: cactusskiddo.tumblr.com


	6. Trouble On My Left, Trouble On My Right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhee gets to see another aspect of ghoul life that she never thought about before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long since I last updated, I'm currently in university so sometimes it's difficult to balance my school work with writing this. Not to mention my medication has been acting up leaving me in a depression funk for the past two weeks (don't worry it's all fixed now though!) 
> 
> also the chapter title is taken from the song 'trouble' by cage the elephant!
> 
> But anyway! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it :)

The days following Minhee’s interview with Jaehee were… oddly pleasant. After getting to know Jaehee’s story, Minhee found herself wanting to speak with her more and more. They had coffee together two more times that week. The first was just Minhee brushing it off as a double check with the transcription she wrote of the interview. But Jaehee was the one to suggest the second one. 

It turned out they were both fans of musicals. Jaehee was a huge fan of Zen, and when she heard that Minhee had never seen any of his works, said that they had to set up a time to watch them together. 

Minhee hoped it would be soon. 

The next few days were rather normal. She showed her boss a small snippet of Jaehee’s interview, just enough to tie her over, and her boss was (understandably) shocked that Minhee hadn’t been bullshitting her about this whole thing. Minhee continued to work at the cafe whenever she could, and things went on as per usual. 

It was a Monday night when Jumin Han approached her. 

“Gather your things, we’re going out,” Jumin said as he approached the table she was sitting at. 

“What?” Minhee asked, pulling an earbud out. 

Jumin sighed. “We’re going out. You’re coming with. Do you have your butterfly mask with you?” 

Minhee shut her laptop. “Um, yeah? But I don’t understand. Are we going hunting again?” 

“No. There is a situation involving our territory claim over this area, and we need to resolve it. I figured this aspect of ghoul life would be an interesting thing to witness. Do you not wish to join us?” 

“No! I’d love to come!” Minhee said, hopping out of her seat, “I’m just confused. Just last week you were mad that Zen and Yoosung took me hunting with them, saying I couldn’t be trusted. What’s changed?” 

“I simply figured if you can be trusted once you can be trusted again,” Jumin said in a horrible attempt at lying. 

“Bullshit. Give me the real reason.” 

Jumin stared at her for a moment, before he sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I was… outvoted,” he admitted. Minhee barked out a surprised laugh at that, and Jumin turned around and began walking towards the back of the cafe. “Hurry up, we’re leaving now.” 

Reaching down, Minhee grabbed her mask before running to catch up with Jumin. 

“So who’s going?” 

“You and myself obviously, then Jaehee, Luciel, Zen, and Yoosung,” he explained as he pushed the door open to the staff lounge. 

“Everyone except V?” Minhee questioned, raising an eyebrow. 

“Yes,” Jumin nodded, heading towards the stairs to the second level, “V does not enjoy fighting. I’m not saying that’s what this will come to, as I hope to resolve this peacefully, but V would rather avoid the situation all the same.” 

“Do you really need everyone else to come though?” 

Jumin sighed again, and turned to face Minhee. “Jaehee, Zen, and Luciel are our most proficient fighters, which is why they are coming. When V is absent, I act as leader of the RFA, which is why I am going. And Yoosung is coming to act as a guard for you. If any fighting erupts, he is tasked with getting you out of there. We can’t afford to be distracted by worrying about you in a fight.” 

“And so that you can have him keep an eye on me too, right?” She asked. 

Jumin glanced at her, and for a moment she could’ve sworn she saw a smile quirk at the corners of his lips. He didn’t respond though, and they entered the second story, where everyone was already gathered in the living area. 

Yoosung and Seven were on the couch, Yoosung sitting up and tapping away on his phone, Seven stretched across the couch with his laptop resting on his thighs and his head in Yoosung’s lap. Yoosung didn’t seem to mind, as he was focused solely on whatever game he was currently playing. 

Jaehee and Zen were standing off to the side, having an animated conversation with one another. Jaehee was laughing at something Zen had said, while Zen was posing like he was in a photoshoot (but then again wasn’t he always?). 

Everyone looked up though as Jumin and Minhee entered the room. 

“Minhee, you’ve agreed to come with?” Jaehee asked, stepping away from Zen to greet her. 

“Yes, of course I did! I’m really interested to learn more about ghoul territory rules and other things like that,” Minhee explained. 

“I dunno why you’re surprised, Jaehee,” Zen said as he strolled over to the two women, “Minhee watched us hunt with no problem, I bet watching a bunch of ghouls talk to each other is like child’s play in comparison.” 

“It is very dangerous though, I’m sure she knows that,” Jaehee pointed out. 

“That’s why we have Yoosungie!” Seven exclaimed suddenly, reaching up to poke Yoosung in the cheek. Yoosung slapped his hand away, still focusing on his game. Minhee had to stifle a laugh. 

“I’ll be fine, Jaehee,” Minhee reassured the woman. 

“Everyone, if I may have your attention,” Jumin’s voice boomed in the room. Everyone looked towards the dark-haired man, Yoosung pocketing his phone and Seven shutting his laptop as Jumin called their attention. 

“We’re going to go over the plan, just to ensure everyone is clear on how this night will go. Assistant- I mean Jaehee, if you will please go over what we discussed?” Jumin asked, gesturing to his former assistant. 

Nodding, Jaehee stepped up besides Jumin. “As you all are aware, a few months ago we became aware of a ghoul attack that had occurred in our territory. Now normally a one off incident such as this would not be of much concern, but another happened a few days later. Since then, no attacks have occurred so close together, but they have continued nonetheless. The pattern that has seemed to emerge is the attacks occur every other Monday night. Considering we are a rather small group occupying a small space, it’s probable the ghoul or ghouls in question are just unaware that the territory is claimed.

“The plan is for us to search the territory tonight, listening for any signs of an attack. Jumin and I will lead at the front, Luciel and Zen will stay in the center, while Yoosung and Minhee hold off at the back. If we come across the group, Minhee and Yoosung, you are to stay as far back as possible. If a fight breaks out, Yoosung, you are to take Minhee back to the cafe immediately. Everyone else, you know how things will play out from there. Are there any questions?” 

The room was silent. 

“Okay,” Jumin said clapping his hands together, “everyone grab your masks. We’re heading out.” 

The sounds of shuffling echoed off the walls of the small room as everyone gathered their things and pushed themselves to their feet. Minhee untied the sweatshirt around her waist and pulled it over her head, before stepping in line beside Jaehee as the group made their way to the roof. Once the cool air hit her face, Minhee watched everyone around her don their masks. Looking over to Jaehee, she saw the woman pull on a gold deer mask that covered the upper half of her face, two large horns protruding from the top. When she glanced behind her, she saw Jumin’s entire face covered by an expensive looking, artisan black cat mask. 

Jumin brushed beside her and went to stand at the edge of the roof. Everyone gathered beside him, and waited. 

No one said a word. Just stood silent as they gazed at the city. 

After a moment, Minhee whispered to Yoosung, “what’s going on?” 

Jumin, who was separated from her by two people, answered instead. “I’m listening to see where they are,” he said with his eyes closed. Minhee nodded in understanding, and the silence resumed. 

They waited again. It was at least two minutes of dead silence as Jumin listened. Then, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes. 

“That direction,” he said, pointing to a building at least three blocks away, “faintly, very faintly, I can hear what _might_ be a fight. So we’re going to head that way and I will see if I can hear it better.” 

Minhee hopped up onto Yoosung’s back, and his arms wrapped underneath her legs to support her. Jumin jumped off the roof, and everyone followed in perfect unison. 

The wind blasted Minhee’s face as the group leapt from roof to roof, the full moon above them bathing the city in an ethereal glow. She shivered, but was grateful she had remembered to bring a jacket this time. 

They made it to the building Jumin had pointed to, and Jumin pulled to a stop by rolling into a crouch. Yoosung grunted as he skittered to a halt, his shoes sliding on the gravel of the roof. It felt like everyone was holding their breath as Jumin listened once again. 

“We’re getting closer,” he told them, breaking out into a run again as he jumped onto the next roof without warning. This cycle happened a few more times, and Minhee was sure they’d crossed at least a few miles by the time they landed on a roof and Jumin held his hand up to stop them. 

Without saying a word, he pointed to the edge of the roof they were standing on. They were close enough now that Minhee could hear was sounded like voices talking in the alley below. Yoosung set her down, and Minhee treaded lightly as she moved to peek over the edge of the roof. 

There was three of them. They were all crouched over the body, and Minhee could hear the sound of eating. Glancing up to Jumin, she watched as he pointed to Zen, Jaehee, and Seven and then to the alley below, before gesturing for her and Yoosung to step back. They both did so, but just enough so they could still look over the edge of the roof if need be. 

Jumin held a hand up, and counted down from three. Then, when his hand reached zero, the four of them all jumped to the ground below. 

Minhee heard their feet thud against the ground, and saw the three people crouching over the body snap their heads up. 

“Who the fuck are you?” the only one with an uncovered head said, pushing himself to hit feet. 

Jumin held his hands up. “We don’t want to fight. We’re simply here to talk.” 

The one at the front with the uncovered head straightened up from his half-crouch, and crossed his arms. “Alright, let’s talk,” he said. 

“So you’ve been hunting in this territory for several months now, yes?” Jumin asked, mimicking the man’s stance. 

“Yeah.” 

“Were you aware this territory has been claimed by another organization for several years now?” The two with their hoods up both made noises of surprise. 

“No, we were not aware of that,” the one at the front said, “what? Are you guys that organization?” 

Jumin nodded. 

“Then tell all of your members to get down here. It’s rude to eavesdrop.” 

Yoosung gasped, hand flying up to his mouth to cover it just a second too late. 

For a moment, it seemed Jumin was going to argue. But then he sighed, and made a ‘come here’ motion with his hands towards the roof. Yoosung and Minhee shared an uncertain look. Then, Yoosung crouched down for Minhee to get on his back, and they jumped down to the ground.

They landed behind the others, and Yoosung pushed Minhee behind him as they faced the other group. Now Minhee was able to get a good look at the three they were facing. 

The two with their hoods up kept their heads down, so Minhee couldn’t make out their faces very well. The one in the front however, he was easy to see thanks to the shock of white hair on his head. He wore a black bandana wrapped around the lower half of his face, and his eyes were an almost sickly shade of blue. 

“Thanks. Now, can you tell us who you guys are?” The man at the front asked. 

“We are the RFA. We run the RFA cafe a few blocks from here, and we’ve had this part of the sector claimed for three years. You’ve been hunting in our territory, and it’s bringing unwanted CCG attention to us.” 

The man gave them all a long, hard stare. His gaze rested on each member for a moment. When he reached Seven, who was standing next to Zen just a bit behind Jaehee and Jumin, his brows furrowed slightly. Then his eyes fell to Yoosung, and then to Minhee. Despite his mouth being covered, she could _feel_ his smile. 

“The RFA? I’ve heard of you guys,” the man said, looking away from her after a moment, “last time I heard someone talking about you you guys had five members. Now you have six.” 

“While she is in fact an new member, there’s actually seven of us,” Jumin said, “our leader does not like to go out very often. So for situations like this, I act as leader in his place.”

“Ah yes of course, how could I forget the tales of V, the enigmatic and rarely seen head of the RFA,” the man’s voice dripped with sarcasm, and Minhee’s eyes widened. 

“You seem to know more about us than you let on,” Jaehee commented. 

“Maybe I do,” he said, running a hand through his hair, “maybe I know about that little incident with the blond back there,” he pointed to Yoosung, “or maybe I know about the ‘accident’ with your former leader, before V.” Minhee knew he was referring to Rika’s suicide in the latter half, but what incident with Yoosung? She’d have to ask later in his interview. 

“Don’t talk about Rika!” Yoosung hissed. 

The man quirked an eyebrow. “Oh? This one’s sensitive it seems. Wonder if that’s because of your ‘condition’, One Eye.” 

“It’s because she was my COUSIN!” Yoosung yelled as he launched towards the guy. Zen caught him by the arms and held him back, despite his struggling. 

“Please refrain from talking about our former leader. Some of us are still struggling with her death,” Jumin requested. 

“That’s funny, considering you’re all content being led by the man who caused her to die in the first place.” 

Jumin’s kagune was out in a second, the thick blood red appendage erupting from his lower back and pinning the man against the wall. It almost reminded Minhee of a tail. 

The two hooded figures kagune also slid out as they crouched into an attack position. They moved towards Jumin, when Seven and Jaehee were on each of them in a second. Minhee noticed they both had multiple tentacle-like kagune protruding from their backs lower backs, Jaehee with three and Seven with four, which they were using to pin the other two to the wall as well. Zen meanwhile, kept his grip tight on Yoosung, even though Yoosung had stopped struggling. Minhee stayed close to the walls towards the mouth of the alley, hoping to stay invisible. 

“Where did you hear that about V?” Jumin asked, leaning in real close to the man’s ear. 

“I have my sources,” the man answered. 

Jumin sighed, but his kagune didn’t budge from its place pinning the man. “Where are you from? Are you part of an organization?” 

The man stared thoughtfully at Jumin for a moment before responding. “Mint Eye. A place of paradise for our kind.” Minhee wasn’t sure why, but she shivered at those words. 

“Look, I don’t want a fight. Let me and my companions go, and we’ll respectfully leave your territory,” the man told Jumin. 

Jumin considered it for a moment. Then, his kagune retracted from the man’s throat, while Jaehee and Seven let the other two go. The three Mint Eye members collected themselves as the groups returned to their original positions. 

“Again, we’re sorry for trespassing. We’re not looking to start a war between our organizations. So we’ll be taking our leave now,” the man said, tugging his bandana back up once more. His eyes flitted over to Seven once more, only his red hair visible with his mask on. The man’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe one day some of you will join us in our paradise. Only those that are worthy can,” he said without tearing his gaze from Seven. 

Then he and the other two leapt up to the fire escape, but before they took off, the man leaned towards them and said, “if we meet again, you can call me Unknown.” And then the three Mint Eye members took off. 

Yoosung was the first to break the silence that followed. “Zen let go of me!” He yelled, shoving Zen away from him. Minhee saw his eye was still black, but he seemed to have calmed down. 

“Yoosung, you shouldn’t have tried to attack him like that,” Jumin scolded. 

“Says the one who pinned him to a wall,” Yoosung grumbled, making his way back towards Minhee. 

“I’m relieved that didn’t turn into a fight,” Jaehee said, changing the subject. 

“As am I. While I have no doubt we could’ve taken them, Yoosung wouldn’t have been able to get Minhee out in time, and she could’ve been injured,” Jumin explained, fiddling with his cufflinks. 

“If we see those guys again though, I’m not gonna hesitate in kicking their asses,” Zen said while readjusting his jacket. “Minhee, are you alright?” 

Minhee nodded. “I’m fine. I’m just more concerned with what those guys said about V.” 

“Yeah, what was he implying by that, Jumin?” Yoosung didn’t seem to be asking a question. It sounded more like an… accusation. 

“Yoosung, not now,” Zen told him, resting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. 

“No! I want to know! Why did he say V was responsible for Rika’s suicide?” Yoosung was raising his voice now as he glared at Jumin. Jumin pinched the spot between his brows. 

“To be honest with you,” he began, “I don’t really know. But I do not think it is truth in the slightest, and neither should any of you.” 

Yoosung seemed like he wanted to say more, but Zen gave him a look that was very clearly a ‘shut up’ look. 

It was then Minhee realized Seven hadn’t said anything since they had left, and she turned to see him hunched over and looking at the ground. 

“Seven? Are you okay?” 

Seven’s head shot up, like he had forgotten where he was, and he shook himself off. “I’m fine,” he said, “just… did the white-haired guy seem familiar to any of you? Like his voice?” 

Everyone shook their heads no, but Minhee hesitated.

“I mean… he called himself Unknown. And I got that text from an unknown number. It probably doesn’t mean anything, but it’s just something I noticed,” she suggested. 

“I doubt it’s that,” Jumin told her, “it’s likely just a coincidence.” 

“But to be fair, he did seem to know a lot about us as an organization,” Jaehee pointed out. 

“The important thing is we know about this ‘Mint Eye’ now,” Zen said, “so we can learn more about them. They seem like they could be a cult or something. That whole thing he said about paradise at the end was pretty creepy, wasn’t it?” 

“It was rather unsettling,” Jaehee agreed. 

“Seven, did you ever manage to trace that number?” Yoosung asked. 

Seven shook his head. “No. I suspect the ‘Unknown’ that texted Minhee used a burner phone and destroyed it afterwards. Whether it’s the Unknown we met tonight, or someone else entirely, they’re not an idiot.” Minhee was concerned, he still seemed off. 

Leaving her side, Minhee watched Yoosung walk over to Seven, and whisper something to him under his breath. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she heard Seven’s snort afterwards. 

“It’s getting late. We should return,” Jumin said, drawing everyone’s attention back to him. “Zen, you’ll be the one carrying Minhee back. Everyone, let’s go.” 

The group made it back to the cafe with no trouble. Minhee was bone tired, wanting nothing more than to get home so she could pass out in her own bed. They had one more discussion before everyone went home. Seven and Jaehee both agreed to do some research on this ‘Mint Eye’, while Zen was in charge of getting information from the other ghouls in the area. 

Zen left first, followed by Jaehee, then Jumin. When it was just Minhee, Yoosung, and Seven, Minhee excused herself with a yawn, and Irina called an uber to take the two of them back to Minhee’s apartment. 

This left Yoosung and Seven. 

Even though Seven was better than he had been earlier, Yoosung could tell his mind was still fixated on the encounter with Unknown. He had been quiet for most of the meeting, only spoken when spoken to. 

So when they were alone, Yoosung took the opportunity to check in on his best friend. 

“Are you okay, dude? You still seem shaken up about tonight.” 

Seven, who was curled up into the corner of the couch, sighed and took his glasses off to rest on the coffee table. “Yeah, I’m fine. That guy just… reminded me of someone I once knew, and it brought back old memories,” he told Yoosung, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. 

“Are they memories you wanna talk about? Or no?” Yoosung asked quietly. Seven shook his head. 

“No, not tonight.” 

Yoosung frowned, before an idea came to him. “Well then in that case, do you wanna watch something?” He asked, already pulling his laptop out. Seven’s hands fell from his face. 

“Maybe, I dunno. What did you have in mind?” Seven asked, uncurling from his ball and scooting closer to Yoosung on the couch. 

Yoosung just smirked as the familiar opening line, “Kiss Kiss Fall in Love!” blared from his computer speakers. Seven’s eyes widened as a huge grin spread across his face, and he practically tackled Yoosung in a side hug. 

“Yoosungie, it’s like you read my mind!” He exclaimed. Yoosung chuckled and shoved him off, and the two settled onto the couch together as they watched the anime they’d both already seen several times over. 

They ended up getting through three episodes before Yoosung began to doze. It wasn’t long before he was passed out, head lolling onto Seven’s shoulder. Smiling at the boy, Seven closed the computer and set it aside. He grabbed a blanket wadded up in the corner of the couch and spread it over the two of them, not wanting to move for fear of waking Yoosung. Then, using his kagune so he wouldn’t have to get up, he grabbed his laptop from the kitchen counter. 

Seven was an insomniac. He wasn’t going to sleep. But hey, he figured he might as well get a head start on his research, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the Saeran character tag and the yoosung x seven tag are both finally becoming relevant lmao
> 
> But yeah! We finally get to see Mint Eye! I promise they're going to become A LOT more involved in the future, I just tend to take my time with these things whoops. Also we got to see the other kagune types! Jumin is a bikaku, while Jaehee and Seven are both rinkaku types (it's really fun to come up with who has what kagune type and stuff lol) 
> 
> Also like, if there are any word mixups or spelling errors I'm sorry but I'll be real with y'all I wasn't completely sober while writing most of this lol and I don't have a beta so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoyed! If you did please leave a kudos and a comment, they make my day! 
> 
> Don't be afraid to shoot me a message on tumblr!  
> cactusskiddo.tumblr.com


	7. Send My Regards to Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhee and Jaehee talk about some things over coffee, we get another interview, and we get to see what Seven gets up to at night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> owo what's this???? a new chapter so soon?????? 
> 
> y u p I totally have other things I need to write but instead I was really in the mood so I wrote the next chapter of this! I really had a lot of fun writing this chapter and it's longer than usual! 
> 
> warning: there are a few descriptions of graphic violence in the last section (which is marked by the double center moon spacers i have) but I don't think it's that bad?? just be careful of that though. Another warning is there are mentions of child abuse in this chapter but only mentions of it, there's no actual depiction of child abuse, so again be careful
> 
> also chapter title is taken from the song 'blame' by bastille
> 
> anyway I hope you guys enjoy!! I'm having a ton of fun writing this and I'm so glad you guys are enjoying reading it :)

“Wait, he wanted you to contact investors for _cat wine?_ ”

“I know right?! It was ridiculous!” 

Minhee had to cover her mouth to stifle her laugh as she tried to imagine what Jaehee’s face must’ve looked like when Jumin gave her that order. Sitting across from her at the table, Jaehee seemed to be struggling to keep a straight face as well. 

The two were having coffee again. Minhee found it was an extremely enjoyable way to spend her lunch breaks, and Jaehee seemed to feel the same way. Somehow, this time their conversation had turned to Jaehee’s time as Jumin’s assistant, and all the horror stories she had from having to work for him. 

Minhee wasn’t previously aware of Jumin’s obsession with his pet cat, but she did now. Apparently he had a white Persian cat named Elizabeth the 3rd, and he loved her more than life itself. 

“Somehow, I can see Jumin as the crazy cat lady type,” Minhee said with a shake of her head as she took another sip of her latte. It was quiet for a moment, the sound of clinking cups and murmuring patrons filling the space between them once more. She smiled, and Jaehee smiled back. 

“So Jaehee, did you ever find anything out about Mint Eye?” She asked after a minute of silence. It had been a week since the run in with the other organization, and there had been no updates on what Mint Eye could be. Jumin hadn’t had a chance to tell V about the incident yet, as he was traveling abroad for his photography and had poor cell service. Everyone was wondering if he knew anything about the organization, since Unknown seemed to know about him, but they could only wait till V came back to find out. 

“Actually, just this morning I found a social media post from someone who had been given a pamphlet from a religious organization called, ‘Mint Eye’,” Jaehee said, setting down her cappuccino. “I contacted the person for a photo of the pamphlet, and all it said was that Mint Eye was the way to get into ‘eternal paradise’. Strangely though, there was no contact information or address given, so it was a dead end.” 

“A church huh?” Minhee frowned into her coffee, “that only reaffirms what Zen said about it sounding like a cult. I wonder why there was no contact information though?” Jaehee shrugged. 

“Honestly I’m not sure. But at least this confirms what kind of organization it is. I just hope Luciel will be able to discover more about it,” Jaehee said. “But anyway, I’ve been meaning to ask, how is your work coming along?” Jaehee cupped her cappuccino between her hands as she spoke, the steam curling up in front of her bright gold eyes as she gazed at Minhee. 

“It’s going good!” Minhee said, “I showed my boss a snippet of the interview with you and she loved it. Well, she loved it but also was vaguely horrified to learn that I was in actual contact with ghouls, but mostly she was happy about it! I have my interview with Zen scheduled for tomorrow, and I’m going to see if I can get a date scheduled with Yoosung or Jumin soon.” 

“I’m glad to hear that,” Jaehee told her with a kind smile, “I’m sure your interview with Zen will go well. He’s much better at talking than I am. Yoosung’s a student so obviously his schedule is quite hectic, but Jumin is usually available in the evenings. He just says he’s not because he wants more time to spend with his cat.” 

“I’ll make sure to call him out on that, don’t worry,” Minhee giggled. Jaehee laughed too, and it was quiet for another moment before she frowned and looked back to Minhee. 

“But what about Luciel? Have you approached him about an interview yet?” She asked. This made Minhee pause. 

“I… haven’t approached him yet, no,” she confessed, taking another sip of her latte, “and I know what you’re thinking. That maybe I’m afraid of him after our initial meeting,” she flashed back to him pinning her against the wall, his breath hot against her ear, “the truth is though, I just don’t think he’ll talk to me. Luciel seems like he’s a very private person. I don’t think he’s going to want to spill his life story to a journalist.” 

Jaehee hummed at that, circling the edge of her cup with her finger. “You’re very perceptive, Minhee. Luciel avoids talking about his past as much as possible, redirecting questions about his childhood by telling jokes. But perhaps with the promise of anonymity he’ll be more willing to talk to you about the things he doesn’t wish to speak to the rest of us about?” 

“Yeah, maybe,” Minhee said, looking past Jaehee to where Seven was exiting the staff lounge, looking like he’d gotten three hours of sleep at most. “Hey Seven!” She called out, deciding now was a good of a time as ever to ask him about an interview. 

Seven glanced up and waved to Minhee, and when she gesture for him to come over, he made his way to her and Jaehee’s table. 

“Wassup MC?” He greeted as he slid up to the table. “Hey Jaehee,” he added when he noticed her sitting across from Minhee. 

“MC?” Minhee questioned, raising an eyebrow. Seven snorted. 

“Minhee Choi? MC? Get it? I’m trying to give you a cool nickname!” Minhee snorted at that. 

“Thanks Seven, but I don’t think anyone’s gonna beat the nickname Hacker God 707 anytime soon.” 

“Damn right they won’t,” Seven said with a fist pump. “So is there something you needed to ask me?” 

“Yes actually,” Minhee pulled her planner out of her bag, “I was wondering if we could schedule a date for your interview? I’m interviewing Zen tomorrow, and I’m going to see if I can get Jumin in for next week. Is there anytime soon you’ll be available?” 

Seven’s mood shift was almost imperceptible. If Minhee hadn’t been staring at his face, she would’ve missed the way his entire expression fell into a look of dead seriousness, before switching back into a grin that was just a little too sharp. 

“Hmm, an interview? With me? I’m flattered, but my schedule is booked. I got dates. A lot of em. With two very special girls,” he said, pushing his glasses up, “and their names are 0 and 1.” 

“And you can’t take a break from your coding for an hour to just let me ask a few questions?” Minhee asked, keeping her smile relaxed but her gaze locked with Seven’s. They stared at each other for a few heartbeats, before Seven pulled out his phone. 

“Oh shit! I’m gonna be late! I gotta go, but I’ll let you know if I get some free time!” Seven said, before scurrying out of the cafe as fast as possible. 

Minhee turned back to look at Jaehee, who was staring at the door with surprise. 

“He doesn’t like me, does he?” Minhee asked with a resigned grin. 

“I don’t think it’s that he dislikes you, I think it’s more he’s not sure how to act around you,” Jaehee said, looking back at Minhee, “as I said before, I don’t know much about Luciel’s past, but I don’t think he’s spent a lot of time in the human world. And not to mention, you’re pushing for private information from him. Whether you’re a human or ghoul, he’s going to try to avoid those who seek information as much as possible.” 

“I suppose you’re right,” Minhee relented, her grin falling, “I understand his hesitation, but I really hope I can get interviews from all of you. Everyone seems to come from such different backgrounds, which is perfect for showing the spectrum of ghoul life to the human world. But I can’t force him if he doesn’t want to.” 

Minhee felt a warm hand on top of hers, and glanced up to see Jaehee giving her a fond look. “Just keep doing what you’re doing, Minhee. Luciel will come around eventually, you just need to give him time. I mean, you’ve managed to get me to trust you, and I’ve always been wary of strangers.” 

Minhee smiled. 

“Thank you, Jaehee.” 

“You’re welcome, Minhee.”

☽☾

The familiar chime of the bells rang as Minhee entered the cafe, and it only took one sweep of the cafe to spot Zen sitting at a table near the window. Sighing in relief, she brushed past tables as she made her way over to the actor.

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” Minhee apologized as she set her bag down on the chair across from Zen. 

“You’re fine, Minhee. I’ve only been here for a few minutes,” Zen reassured her. “Also I already told Yoosung to bring a latte over for you when you got here, so he should be over here in a few minutes.” Minhee flashed Zen a grateful smile as she smoothed her skirt to sit down. 

“So how’s your day been?” Zen asked as she got herself settled. 

“Rushed,” Minhee answered honestly, “I woke up late and missed the train, and that made me late to a meeting at my job, and basically I’ve just had a real headache of a day.” 

“I’m sorry, Minhee,” Zen apologized, “we don’t have to do this interview today if you don’t want. We can always reschedule for another time.” 

“No, I want to do this today,” Minhee said. Just then, Yoosung came by and set down a latte in front of her, and she turned to give the blond a bright smile. “Thank you so much Yoosung.” 

“Let me know if you want another!” Yoosung said before going back to the counter. 

Minhee took a sip of her drink, sagging into her chair as the sweet vanilla and bitter coffee played along her taste buds in perfect harmony. After taking a moment to close her eyes, she took a breath and reached down to her bag, and set her phone on the counter. She opened up the recording app, and hovered her finger over the button. 

“This is going to be recorded so that I can transcribe it onto my computer later, is that alright?” She asked. Zen nodded, and she tapped the record button. “Alright. To make sure everything is on record, you are anonymous. Your name will not be included in this interview, the location of where this interview is taking place will not be included, and if you include any identifying details about yourself in this interview, I will make sure to cut them out during my transcription. Any questions?” 

“Nope!” Zen shook his head. 

“Great, let’s get started,” Minhee pulled out her notebook to look over her list of questions once again. “So to start off: are you a ghoul?” 

“Yes, I am a ghoul,” Zen confirmed. He lowered his voice, but it didn’t waver. 

“Can you tell me what your childhood was like? What is it like to grow up as a ghoul?” Zen seemed to take a moment to think that over. 

“Well, I grew up in a rather wealthy family. We weren’t ridiculously loaded or anything, but we were definitely more than comfortable. In the world of ghouls, I guess you could say my family was upper class?” Zen shuddered. “God I hate saying that. It makes me sound like such a pompous douche.” 

“You’re fine,” Minhee reassured him. 

He gave her a grateful smile before continuing. “But yeah, basically my parents were pretty stuck up is what I’m trying to get across. Since I couldn’t go to public school for obvious reasons I had private tutoring, and I was taught stuff like writing, math, science, English, just usual school stuff. But I was also taught about what my parents wanted me to think about the world. Specifically what they thought about humans.

“You see, a lot of ghouls, especially the rich ones, believe they’re superior to humans. My family felt the same way. Growing up I was constantly told how humans were beneath me, and how they were nothing more than food and entertainment for our kind. And I thought that was just the way all ghouls thought! It wasn’t till I was about thirteen that my brother told me a lot of ghouls actually didn’t think that way.” 

“Yikes, I didn’t realize ghoul elitists were a thing,” Minhee commented. 

“Yup. When I learned that a lot of ghouls saw humans as their equals, I started latching onto that theory. You see, a few months earlier, there was a human family that lived next door to us. He was from a rich family too, which was why I didn’t realize he was human at first. We had this super tall fence separating our backyard from theirs, and it was covered with rose bushes. But there was this one part where the rose bushes separated just enough to where me and the other kid could see each others faces. He was only other kid my age that I’d ever met, and so we talked a lot,” Zen paused, “he was the first real friend I ever had.” 

“After a while, my parents found out I was talking to him and got really upset that I had been ‘tricked’ by a human. It wasn’t long after that that the family… moved,” he said, hesitating on the word ‘move’. “So later when my brother told me most ghouls saw humans as equals, I instantly agreed with that. Suffice to say… no one was very happy with my opinion.” 

“What happened?” Minhee asked in a hushed voice. 

“My father… he decided to give me an ‘example of humans in their natural place’. So he took me to a show,” Zen hesitated again, clenching his fist. 

“In the social circles of the ghoul elites, it’s common for ghouls to attend ‘Gourmet Shows’. These are typically hosted by a wealthy ghoul, certain guests or friends of the host bring in unsuspecting humans, and then they throw the humans into a gladiator ring. The ghouls get to watch the fight and place bets on who the last survivor will be, and then whoever bet the highest and wins gets to eat the victor themself. Everyone else gets to share samples of the other victims.” 

Minhee blinked at Zen, wondering how the hell all this went on in the ghoul world without humans knowing anything about it. 

“What happened at the show?” Minhee whispered. 

“I… I found out where our human neighbors went,” Zen said, coughing a bit. Minhee sucked in a breath. “At first all I could do is stare, but then when they were all dead, I cried. A lot. There was probably some kicking and screaming involved too, I don’t really remember. I think I blacked out when the samples came around, and my father forced me to…” Zen trailed off, wincing at the memory, “I think you can figure it out from there.” 

Minhee was horror-struck. 

“Holy shit, I’m… I’m so sorry,” she whispered. Zen gave her a sad smile and reached over to pat her hand. 

“It’s okay. It’s been a long time since it happened,” he told her, waving it off with a hand, “after that though, I knew I couldn’t live with them anymore. Not my father, my mother, or my brother. So I ran away.” 

“But you were so young!” Minhee exclaimed. 

“Yeah, I was,” Zen chuckled, “I was a kid who had never been in the human world before, let alone knew how to survive there. When I left I took all the money I’d been saving from birthdays and holidays, and that was enough to get me a really small apartment for about two months. I didn’t have to buy groceries, so that saved me a bit of cash thankfully. And since I had those two months covered, I started taking odd jobs wherever I could find them. Mostly things like being a delivery boy, but I also got a few acting jobs. And somehow I managed to make enough to keep a roof over my head.” 

“How did you manage to eat? Even as a ghoul, I can’t imagine a kid being able to take down a full grown adult.” 

“Well you see, now that problem I solved out of sheer luck. One night, not too long after I’d gotten my apartment, I was wandering around the outskirts of the sector I was staying in when I smelled a body. I found it underneath a cliff face, and realized the guy had jumped. I felt really bad eating him, but I was so hungry and I didn’t want to kill anyone, and since the guy was already dead I felt it wasn’t… as bad,” Zen pushed his hair out of his face and sighed before continuing. 

“It turns out, that was a popular suicide spot. So that’s what I did for the next several years. I would go check that place every few months, and whenever I found a body I would take what I needed and store as much as I could back at my place,” Zen wasn’t looking at Minhee now, and she figured she should try to get the topic off the subject of bodies. 

“What… what was it like? Growing up on your own at such a young age?” She asked, suddenly remembering she still had her latte and taking another sip of the slightly cold drink. 

“Oh shit, yeah, that was rough,” Zen laughed, rubbing at his eyes, “I got involved with a lot of bad shit. Met some bad guys, ghouls who had grown up on the streets and had a different outlook than I did. I didn’t follow them in all things. Like I never hunted with them. But I hung out with them sometimes, did some drugs, drank a lot, you know, usual teenager shit. Except I was living by myself, so I had no one around to tell me when enough was enough. 

“During all this I was still acting on the side, and as I got older and less involved with that bad crowd, I got more and more into it. I started landing bigger roles in better production companies, and eventually was able to quit my side job as a delivery guy. Don’t get me wrong, I was still a complete unknown, but I was able to support myself doing what I loved. And then… I met Rika.” 

Zen’s eyes widened when the name slipped out. 

“Shit! I didn’t mean to say her name! You’ll cut that out, right?” Minhee laughed. 

“Don’t worry, like I said I’m going to redact any identifying information.” Zen breathed a sigh of relief at that, taking a swig of his coffee as he caught his breath after his spiel. 

“So as I was saying,” he started again, “I met _her_ after one of my shows. It turned out she was a fan of mine and asked me to join her organization, and while it took a bit of convincing, I eventually gave in. And that’s how I ended up here.” Zen gestured to the cafe around them. 

So Rika convinced Zen to join the RFA, while Jumin encouraged Jaehee to join. Minhee wondered how the others had joined? 

Well, she was going to find out soon enough. Hopefully. 

“I hope I didn’t talk too much,” Zen said, laughing nervously, “you asked me a single question and I gave you my whole life story.” 

“You’re fine,” Minhee reassured him with a smile, “that’s exactly what I wanted. I only have a few more questions if that’s alright?” Zen nodded, gesturing for her to continue. 

“I know you mentioned it in your story, but just to make sure we know your exact stance, what do you think of humans? Do you think humans and ghouls could ever find peace with one another?” Minhee asked, glancing down at her notebook to make sure she hadn’t forgotten a question. 

Zen chewed on his lip, having to think for a moment before answering. “Like I said before, I believe that ghouls and humans are equals. I don’t think ghouls are naturally superior to humans, and I don’t think they should be able to kill and torment humans as much as they want. And I also don’t believe that humans have the right to hunt us down and slaughter us. And while I’d like to believe we could find peace, I’ve seen the more fucked up side of ghouls, and if by some miracle humans agreed to stop hunting ghouls, I’m not sure if all ghouls could agree to live in peace with humans. So, like, it would be ideal, but not likely,” Zen said, shrugging as he took another sip of his coffee. 

“Thank you, Zen,” Minhee said, checking her notebook, “one last question: is there anything you would like to tell any humans that might read this article when it gets published in the future?” 

“Hmm, that’s a good one,” Zen said, scratching his chin, “I think I would tell the humans that even though there are a lot of fucked up ghouls, not all of us are that way. In fact, most ghouls don’t think like that. You can’t just pick out the minority of us and apply that stereotype to all ghouls, it’s just not fair. We’re just doing our best to survive. That’s all.” 

Minhee smiled again at Zen, appreciating the honesty of his answer. “Thank you for taking the time to let me interview you. It means a lot,” she said as she turned off the recorder. 

“Of course, Minhee!” Zen quipped as he slid off his chair. “I gotta go because I have rehearsal soon, but I’ll see you later!” 

“Sure thing,” Minhee said, pulling her bag up as she packed up her things. She looked up as Zen was gathering his own stuff, and noticed his expression seemed… tight. Her intuition was telling her that Zen was upset about something he had told her. 

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he went to brush past her, but Minhee held a hand out to stop him. Zen jumped and met her gaze with wide eyes. 

“Is something wrong, Minhee? Did you forget a question?” He asked. 

Minhee shook her head. “This may not be my place to say,” she started, letting her arm fall back to her lap and furrowing her brows, “but… I want you to know it’s not your fault. About your human neighbors, and the Gourmet Show. That’s not on you.” 

Zen sucked in a breath at that. He stared at Minhee for a moment, not saying anything, before a shaky laugh bubbled from his throat. “Thanks Minhee, but you weren’t there. If I hadn’t befriended him…” Minhee’s eyes locked with his. 

“I don’t need to have been there. You were a child. It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know what would happen, you just wanted a friend. That’s not wrong,” Minhee insisted. Zen could only hold her eye contact for a minute, before he looked at the ground. 

“I gotta go. I’ll see you later,” Zen said, rushing past her and leaving the cafe. Minhee watched him leave, cursing herself for speaking up in the first place. She knows she was in the right to tell him that, but she can’t help but worry that it just upset him even more. 

Sighing, Minhee dropped her forehead against the table, and wondered how the hell she was going to get through the rest of these interviews.

☽☾

Seven stood on the edge of the roof, listening to the city below. Across the street there was a couple exiting a 24 hour fried wing place, chatting to each other about a dinner they were going to in a few days. At the convenience store a few stores away from the building Seven stood on top of, a group of teenagers were laughing to each other about a party they were going to attend. And right below Seven’s feet, a man exited a liquor store, swaying slightly as he walked with uneven steps.

A smile quirked the corners of Seven’s lips beneath his mask. There he was. 

From the rooftop, Seven followed the man like a shadow. The man didn’t seem entirely sure of where he was going, taking random turns and doubling back a few times. He was very drunk, that much was obvious. 

Eventually, when the man had reached a shadowy corner, he pulled out his phone, and Seven could see he was ordering an uber. Silently, Seven leapt down behind the man. Then, in one swift motion, he reached out and plucked the phone from the man’s hands. 

“HEY!” the man cried out. Seven laughed and ran into a nearby alleyway, holding the phone over his head like a prize. The man followed, his breathing heavy as he stumbled into the alley. Seven stood at the end, the light from the phone a beacon in the darkness. 

“GIVE THAT BACK YOU PUNK!” He yelled, lurching forward towards Seven. 

“Nope!” Seven said, sidestepping and chucking the phone at the wall. It shattered, crumbling onto the floor. 

“YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! YOU’RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT!” He bellowed, pulling his fist back to swing at Seven. 

Once again, Seven sidestepped the attack with ease. The man fell against the wall, and Seven started to laugh, when the guy surprised him by barreling into him without warning. Seven gasped as he was slammed against the wall, the man pinning him like a ragdoll. 

Seven smiled. 

The man didn’t even get a chance to say anything before Seven was kicking him back. The guy slammed into the opposite wall so hard, the bricks of the wall cracked. It wasn’t even two seconds before the roles were reversed, and Seven was pinning the guy to the wall. 

“That wasn’t very nice,” Seven told him. 

“You fucking- let me go!” The man struggled, but he couldn’t even budge in Seven’s iron grip. “What do you want from me? And what’s up with the mask you fucking freak?!” Seven wondered when the man would notice he was wearing an LED light up clown mask. 

“Oh, I’m so glad you asked,” Seven crooned, “the mask is to hide my face. Keep my identity safe. Most ghouls have them.” 

The man’s eyes widened. “G-Ghouls? You’re a ghoul?!” 

Seven nodded, his eyes turning black and his kagune raising up from behind his back. When the man saw this, he choked, and began to thrash against Seven in an attempt to escape. 

“Please don’t kill me! I have children!” 

“Oh? Do you now?” Seven laughed, “you must really care about your kids. Don’t you?” 

“Yes, yes I do. Please, let me go so I can go back to them,” he was crying now, the smell of alcohol on his breath intermingling with the scent of his tears. It made Seven want to gag. 

“If you love them so much, then tell me,” Seven leaned in close to the man, “ _why do you beat your kids, Doyun?_ ” Doyun’s eyes widened at his name, and he stopped struggling. 

“I don’t beat my kids! And how do you know my name? Are you a stalker you sick fuck?” Seven could hear Doyun’s heart pounding, his fear palpable. 

“I know everything about you, Doyun Park,” Seven whispered in his ear, “I know your wife left you several years ago, leaving the kids with you. I know that because of this, you developed a drinking problem. And I also know that on the nights you come home from work drunk, which is almost every night now, you get angry. And since you’re angry, you have to take it out on someone, right? So you take it out on your two kids. The older one, she takes the brunt of it, but sometimes the younger one spills something, and you get a little _too_ angry with him.” 

Seven pulled back so he was no longer right next to Doyun’s ear. “It’s funny that you’re calling me a sick fuck when you’re the abusive alcoholic here. That’s real rich, Doyun.” Doyun frowned, his whole demeanor changing from panic, to anger. 

“You have no clue how difficult it is to be a single parent to two children,” he hissed between his teeth. 

“And you think being stressed is a valid excuse to hit your children? Because if it does, I’m pretty angry right now, so,” Seven pulled one of his kagune back, and used it to stab through Doyun’s hand. Doyun screamed, and Seven used one of his other tentacles to cover his mouth. “That’s fine, right? I’m angry so I hurt you. That’s how this works, isn’t it?” 

Doyun was crying again, the blood pouring from his hand staining the wall behind him like red paint. 

“What if I did this?” Seven asked, before stabbing the man in the stomach with the same tentacle he’d used to stab his hand. Doyun screamed again, but Seven ignored him. “Or this?” Another stab. “Is this okay?” Another. “Sometimes you’re just so angry, you gotta hurt people, right?” 

This went on, Doyun’s screams growing weaker each time. Seven got a rush with every wound. He would almost describe it as adrenaline, but that wasn’t quite right. Neither was joy. But it was a rush of something. Something that told him he was doing the right thing, that this was retributive justice. So he kept doing it. 

Seven was about to stab him for the sixth time, when a gunshot sounded and Seven felt something burn his shoulder. 

Whipping his head around, he saw a CCG investigator standing at the end of the alley, briefcase in one hand and gun in the other. _How fun._

In a single swipe, Seven severed Doyun’s head from his body. The head slammed against the concrete with a wet thud, and from the corner of his eye Seven could see his body collapse to the ground. Seven didn’t look away from the investigator though. 

“I know who you are,” the woman snarled, “you’re Jester.” 

“Oooo I have my own code name? I feel so special!” His words danced along his tongue, the joking tone almost as natural as breathing to him at this point. 

A gunshot rang out again. This time, it hit Seven’s other shoulder. He could only stare at the hole in his clothes as his skin patched itself back up in seconds. 

“Could you stop shooting me? I really like this jacket,” he complained, holding up his arms to show off his sleeves. 

“Fine, have it your way,” the woman said. She pressed the button on the top of her briefcase, and Seven watched as it transformed into a long, blood-red whip. She whipped it from side to side, digging her shoes into the ground. “Let’s have some fun, Jester.” 

The investigator charged, throwing her whip out towards Seven. He leapt out of the way, jumping off the wall to soar over the woman. He landed behind her, but before he could side sweep her with his kagune, she whirled around and wrapped her whip around his arm. 

The whip cut into his skin, and he winced as he she pulled him down, causing him to stumble. He just managed to regain his balance before the whip came at him again, and this time he managed to jump back before it could swipe across his chest. Seven had to duck and jump to avoid the investigator’s attack as he tried to figure out where her weak spot was. 

“Wow, you’re good,” Seven commented, falling into a backbend as the whip soared over his face, “let me guess, you’re a-” Seven turned just as the whip grazed his arm, “first class investigator?” 

“Close,” the investigator commented, landing a blow against Seven’s thigh. Seven hissed, and she used this to wrap the whip around his ankle, and Seven felt himself being yanked off his feet. “I will be first class after I bring you back to headquarters.” 

The woman stood over him, and Seven laughed. 

“Best of luck to you, but now it’s my turn.” 

The investigator didn’t have time to react before Seven scrambled to his feet and jumped onto the wall. Using his kagune, he climbed up the wall of the building, before turning around and jumping right at her. 

It only took a second. He stood beside her, breathing normally, and she stared at the wall with wide eyes. Seven was fast. A lot of people didn’t know this. But judging by the look of horror on the investigator’s face as blood began to pool across her chest, she was now one of the people who knew just how fast he could be. 

The investigator fell to her knees, the blood soaking the entire front of her shirt. She stared up at Seven with terror— but also awe. Seven knelt down in front of her, making sure she could see his eyes through his mask. 

“H-How?” The woman asked, her voice a choked gurgle. “You’re-you’re only a rate- a rate B.” 

“You see, jesters aren’t just known for telling jokes,” Seven said, unable to contain the grin on his face, “we’re known for being tricksters too. And my favorite trick is making people think I’m weaker than I actually am.” 

The woman didn’t respond. Her eyes went glassy, and she collapsed face first into the concrete, even more red paint adding to the carnage from Seven’s earlier victim. Looking at the macabre scene, the only thing Seven could think was, _this is gonna be a good meal_. 

As he ate, he thought over the fact that he was a B-rate ghoul. It was funny, considering he was most likely an S or even an S+ in reality. He was a master of deception. In more ways than just with the CCG. 

The smell of Doyun’s alcohol-soaked breath had brought back memories of an angry woman throwing plates at a wall, and a warm hand gripping his as the two of them hid in the shadows. 

Deception. Holding secrets. Keeping everything about himself shrouded in mystery, from his past to his real name. He was a master at all of it. 

After he had eaten both Doyun and the investigator, Seven was pleasantly full. He was just about to back to the cafe— he had left his laptop there and had a hacking job he needed to finish by the morning— when he noticed the red whip still sitting in the shadows of the alley. 

Picking up the whip, Seven felt its weight. It was solid, but not too heavy. Fast, but not too difficult to master with some practice. He could feel the energy thrumming throughout it, the hollow shell of life it still held onto. 

Seven thought back to Minhee. She was going out with them more often. If that situation with Mint Eye had turned into a fight, she would’ve been at the mercy of Unknown and those other two ghouls. She needed a weapon. This would be perfect for her. 

Ignoring the implications that this meant he was worried about Minhee’s safety, and therefore trusted her, Seven pressed the button to turn the quinque back into a normal briefcase. Then, he leapt up to the rooftop once more, and headed back to the cafe, content to leave his troubling thoughts behind in a blood-soaked alley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ha ,,, Seven ,,,, finally getting screen time,,, my boy,,, he's a little violent whoops (honestly I love playing with the idea of Seven's sadistic side that's only mentioned like ,,, once or twice in mm canon so like that's where that came from) 
> 
> also ZEN INTERVIEW ZEN INTERVIEW!!! Originally I was gonna have Yoosung's interview in this chapter but then I decided I was gonna save that for a later chapter because it's more Dramatique. I hope you guys liked the backstory I came up with for Zen??? I come up with these on the spot pretty much (except for Yoosung's lol) so I hope it's good I know I liked it
> 
> MINHEE IS GETTING A QUINQUE! Because I have no brain power right now to come up with my own quinque it's basically just the whip form of Akira's quinque amatsu in tg (clarification though: the female investigator that attacked Seven is not Akira, we are not doing crossovers in this house lol) 
> 
> anywho it's 3 am and I have a 9 am class tomorrow so I gotta go to bed, but I hope you guys enjoyed! Please leave a kudos and a comment if you did, they really make my day :) 
> 
> feel free to message me on tumblr to talk about tg or mm or just scream about yooseven with me idc  
> cactusskiddo.tumblr.com


	8. Hold Me in this Wild Wild World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhee starts learning how to use her quinque, things get a little gay, and Minhee's schedule is sped up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!! This past weekend I had to fly across the country for a wedding, so as a result I got a lot of writing time! This chapter was a lot of fun to write, and I definitely added and changed a lot of things as it went on (read: none of this was really in my plot plan whoops but hey things worked out so) 
> 
> Also, thank you all so much for the love you've been giving this fic so far!!! Every kudos and comment gives me the energy to continue writing this. You're all so sweet and I love hearing what you think of this fic so far :)
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!!! also the chapter title is taken from the song 'warmth' by bastille

“Come on! Strike me, like you mean it!” 

Panting, Minhee wiped the sweat from her brow and readied her whip once more. Seven didn’t even seem winded, dancing from side to side as he waited for her to come at him again. Determined to get at least one hit on the red headed bastard, Minhee took a deep breath and charged. 

It had been three days since Minhee’s interview with Zen, two day since Seven had shown up with a quinque for her, and one day since Jumin had suggested the RFA take turns training Minhee to use her new weapon. 

Launching herself at him, Minhee feinted to the right before swinging at him from the left. Seven laughed as he jumped out of the way, and Minhee gritted her teeth as she aimed another hit at his legs. 

She had been surprised to say the least when Seven has barged into the cafe in the afternoon, and without even saying hello, dragged Minhee into the staff lounge. He had ignored her questions, Seven had run to the apartment upstairs, coming back down with a silver briefcase. 

It was only then he explained that he’d fought a CCG agent the night before and thought her quinque might be a good fit for Minhee.

Seven jumped up and the whip swept under his feet, and Minhee was really getting annoyed now. Seven was way better than she thought he’d be. Obviously she knew it wasn’t going to be easy to go toe to toe with a ghoul, especially with a weapon she’d never used before, but she thought she’d at least get a tap in at one point. She remembered Jumin had once mentioned that Seven was one of the best fighters in the RFA, along with Zen and Jaehee, and it was proving to be true.

Minhee had thought Seven didn’t like her. She’d expressed as much to Jaehee only two days before. But then he got her a quinque so she could defend herself, and he was the first to volunteer to spar with her. It would seem she had been wrong.

 _Or maybe Seven has ulterior motives,_ her brain whispered as she ducked down to avoid Seven sideswiping her in the head.

She didn’t know. Trying to get a read on Seven was like trying to predict the weather with a magic 8 ball. It wasn’t something you should even bother with. The minute she thought one thing about Seven, he would prove her wrong by doing the exact opposite. For Minhee, half of her job was trying to figure out what people were thinking. Suffice to say, the enigma that was 707 frustrated her to no end.

“Fuck!” Minhee cried out when Seven swept her legs out from under her, making her crash into the soft mat with a hard thud. Her head was spinning, and she groaned as she rolled onto her back and opened her eyes. Seven was standing over her, and where she was expecting his signature joking smile, was instead a serious expression.

“You were distracted,” he said simply, “why?”

_I was thinking about how much you confuse me._

“Do you want the honest answer or the easy answer?” The words slipped out without thinking, and she immediately regretted it. Seven raised an eyebrow.

“…honest,” he said after a moment of thinking, sitting down cross-legged beside her on the mat. Minhee resisted the urge to curse, not feeling like having a conversation like this right now.

Minhee winced as she pushed herself into a sitting position, her head throbbing when she moved. They had been going at it for at least an hour, and Minhee was exhausted. All she wanted in that moment was to lie down and take a nap, but she’d already opened this can of worms, and now she had to deal with it.

“Honest answer,” Minhee started, pushing her sweaty bangs off her forehead, “I was thinking about how much I don’t understand you, Luciel. Anytime I try to get a read on you, you always go and do something completely opposite. For example, three days ago I told Jaehee I thought you didn’t like me. Then you go and give me a weapon, and volunteer to train me. It’s just…” she paused as she tried to think of the right words, “you confuse me.”

When she finished speaking, Seven was silent for a few moments. 

Then, he confused her again. He laughed.

“Honestly, I feel the exact same way about you, Minhee,” Seven told her, smiling as he rubbed at his eyes. “I haven’t been around humans a lot in… a long time, and anytime I think I know what you’re going to do or say, you go and do something completely unexpected. Like, for example, the first night we met, I was literally about to kill you. I thought that’d make you at least a tiny bit afraid of me, but it seems you just don’t care. Hell, you’re not afraid of any of us! You literally watched Zen and Yoosung eat a guy and you weren’t even phased. It just goes against everything I ever thought about humans.”

“I guess we’re in the same boat then, huh?” Minhee said with a shrug. 

“Yup,” Seven replies, popping the ‘p’. 

Seven met Minhee’s eyes, and they stared at each other for a few seconds.

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” Minhee tried. 

For a second, it seemed Seven was considering it. But then he sighed and gave her an apologetic smile, patting her shoulder as he pushed himself to his feet. 

“Not today, MC,” he said, offering her a hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. 

“You wanna go again?” Minhee asked. Before Seven could respond though, someone else cut in from the doorway. 

“I’m glad to see you’re both still in one piece.” Turning around, Minhee saw Jaehee leaning against the doorway with a small grin. “I was worried when Jumin told me you two were going to be sparring. I was expecting there to be nothing of Luciel left by the time I got here.” Seven protested this with a ‘hey!’ while Minhee laughed. 

“Honestly, I haven’t even been able to get one hit on Seven so far,” Minhee said, walking over to where her water bottle was resting on the wall near where Jaehee was standing. 

“So you’re not going easy on her, Luciel?” Jaehee asked, raising her eyebrows at him. 

“Nope!” Seven said with a shake of his head, “if we have a run in with more ghouls or CCG agents, neither of them are going to go easy on her. So neither will I.” 

Minhee took several long gulps of water, the cool liquid feeling like heaven on her throat. 

“Jaehee, do you want to watch us go another round?” Minhee asked in between drinks. 

“Actually MC,” Seven started, grabbing his glasses from where he’d set them down earlier, “I have to get back to work. But, if you wanna keep going, maybe Jaehee could spar with you?” He flashed Jaehee a knowing grin, and she narrowed her eyes at him. 

“I mean I’d be down,” Minhee said, secretly thrilled about the idea of getting to spar with Jaehee. 

“I suppose I wouldn’t mind getting a small workout in,” Jaehee said, pushing off the wall and stepping over to the mat. 

Minhee looked over to where Seven was lingering in the doorway, and saw him throw a wink to Jaehee. “Have fun you two,” he crooned before turning tail and walking out. 

Rolling her eyes at Seven’s antics, she looked back to Jaehee, and noticed a small blush was now coloring her cheeks. When she noticed Minhee staring though, she turned away and began to unbutton the blouse she had on, revealing a tight black tank top underneath. 

“I’d rather not get my blouse dirty if that’s alright,” Jaehee said in way of explanation. 

“Don’t worry, you’re fine,” Minhee told her, trying not to gawk at how well-defined the muscles on her arms were. Jaehee set her blouse aside, and kicked her shoes off as she stepped onto the mat. 

“Was Luciel using his kagune to fight you?” Jaehee asked. 

Minhee shook her head. “He said he was going to get to that, but then he left.” 

Jaehee considered this, tapping her chin with her finger. “Alright. Do you want to gain experience fighting a ghoul using their kagune?” 

“Yeah, why not,” Minhee said, shrugging, “it’ll probably also help me if I have to fight CCG agents using their quinque, since those things seem to be similar to kagune.” 

Jaehee nodded, and lowered into an attack position, her eyes turning black and red. Tightening her grip on her whip, Minhee mimicked Jaehee as she bent her knees into a defensive pose. 

They were silent, staring at one another. Minhee wondered when Jaehee was going to pull out her kagune, and figured it was probably going to be after the fight had started. 

Then, Minhee lunged forward, throwing her whip out as she aimed for Jaehee’s middle. Jaehee leapt out of the way, sidestepping as she aimed a punch for Minhee’s side. Minhee dodged it just in time, and threw her whip back around towards Jaehee’s legs, when something else suddenly knocked her to the ground. 

Looking up, she saw Jaehee was standing over her, three tentacles writhing behind her. 

Scrambling to her feet, Minhee aimed her whip at Jaehee’s face, but Jaehee ducked under it. Then, two tentacles were swiping Minhee’s feet out from under her, and she fell to the floor again. 

“Shit!” Minhee yelled as her head slammed against the mat once more. 

“Rule number one of fighting a ghoul: always keep an eye on their kagune,” Jaehee told her, reaching a hand out to help her back up. Minhee took it, groaning as she reestablished her balance. 

“I just can’t seem to land even one hit. What am I doing wrong?” Minhee asked. 

“Your attacks are predictable. Try to be more random about where you attack your target,” Jaehee suggested. 

“Alright, I’ll try it,” Minhee said, getting into an attack pose once more. 

Randomness. She could do that. 

She lunged at Jaehee, but didn’t try to hit her. Instead, she feinted to the left, swiping at Jaehee’s legs. Jaehee dodged, Minhee brought her whip up towards Jaehee’s face. She leaned back as the whip just missed her nose. Minhee brought the whip back down towards Jaehee’s arm. This time, Jaehee wasn’t able to react in time.

Minhee stared in shock at the long cut that had opened along Jaehee’s forearm. She had done that. She had managed to get a hit on Jaehee.

She was so distracted by finally getting a hit, that she didn’t see the tentacle until she was already on the ground again. But she didn’t care. She’d done it.

“Yes!” She exclaimed as she pushed herself back up to her feet. “I did it! I hit you!”

“Yes, you did very well,” Jaehee said with a laugh, clearly amused by Minhee’s excitement. “You don’t have the advantage of physical strength, so speed is going to be what you utilize most during fights. The faster you can hit your opponent with a barrage of attacks, the more likely you are to land a hit. You just have to remember to focus on your defense as well, because if you let a ghoul stab you with their kagune, it’s all over. You humans don’t have a healing factor like we do, so an injury like that is lethal.”

“Got it,” Minhee said, “ready to go again?”

Jaehee looked down to her arm, which had already healed into a faded red line, and nodded. “Ready whenever you are, Minhee.”

The two of them continued their sparring, with Minhee getting a bit faster every time. It took a few more tries to land another hit on Jaehee, but then she landed another, and another. She got better at predicting when Jaehee was going to attack her from the side or behind, and while it was slow going, she was improving nonetheless.

After so many rounds Minhee had lost track, she was getting ready to call it quits. She was sweaty, tired, and her head ached from slamming against the mat so many times. But she was so close to getting a hit on Jaehee’s torso, and she was willing to try one more time.

She got ready, her hand sore from holding her whip for so long.

This time, Jaehee lunged first. Minhee sidestepped just in time, sending the whip towards Jaehee’s back. Jaehee ducked, and her kagune came back around to swipe Minhee’s feet from under her. However, Minhee knew this trick by now and was able to jump over them. Jaehee whirled around, going into a backbend just as the whip went sailing over her head for the billionth time. When she righted herself, Minhee threw the whip towards Jaehee’s arm that was outstretched for balance, and somehow the whip _wrapped around_ Jaehee’s arm.

Minhee stared in shock, but regained her senses quickly enough to try and use this to flip Jaehee over her head.

Try being the operative word.

While that would’ve been really cool had Minhee pulled it off, instead Jaehee just stumbled a bit before regaining her footing. She smirked at Minhee, now grabbing onto the whip still wrapped around her forearm.

“You need a lot of strength to do that. Like this.”

Before Minhee could say anything, Jaehee had pulled the whip— and Minhee with it— over her head, sending Minhee crashing to the ground once more. Her head was spinning and she was seeing stars, but she didn’t want to give up just yet. She tried to scrambled to her feet, but Jaehee jumped on top of Minhee, pinning her arms to the ground in an iron grip.

Minhee struggled, but it was impossible to free herself.

Looking up, Minhee smiled at Jaehee, and went limp as she accepted her defeat.

“That was a good one,” Minhee told Jaehee.

“Thank you, but I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Jaehee asked, her brows pinching with worry.

“Nope! I’m fine!” Minhee told her. Jaehee sagged in relief.

It was only then that MInhee realized that Jaehee was still pinning her to the ground, Jaehee’s legs straddling her torso.

Her eyes trailed along Jaehee’s face, down her strong shoulders, to her well-muscled arms, to the dark red tentacles writhing above her like snakes.

She also realized that Jaehee’s face was very close to hers.

And if Minhee hadn’t been pinned to the ground in that moment, she might’ve even leaned her face up to meet Jaehee’s.

But then Jaehee seemed to have the same realization Minhee did, and her cheeks flared red as she all but jumped off of Minhee, kagune disappearing as she did so. “Oh, uh, I’m sorry Minhee. I didn’t— I forgot I was still holding you down, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable—“

MInhee laughed, cutting Jaehee off, “you’re fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Jaehee breathed a sigh of relief, her face as red as Seven’s hair. Minhee pushed herself to her feet, and made her way to the end of the room where her water bottle was. After taking several long drinks, she took a breath and turned to Jaehee, whose eyes that had returned back to their gold color were locked on the ground.

“Do you wanna call it a day and go get some coffee?” Minhee asked her. Jaehee’s head whipped up like she had been burned, and it seemed to take a moment for her to process what Minhee said before she smiled.

“Yes Minhee, I would love to.”

☽☾

Seven replayed the conversation with Minhee in his head over and over again as he walked up the steps to Yoosung’s apartment. She didn’t understand him just as much as he didn’t understand her. She also had apparently thought he didn’t like her, and while that had been true at first, Seven had to admit the girl had grown on him quickly.

He also thought back to her offer. _I’ll show you mine if you show me yours_. She was offering to explain, if he explained in return. But Seven didn’t trust her enough to tell her that much.

Not yet at least.

Looking up from his thoughts, Seven realized he was standing outside Yoosung’s door. He shook his head. He didn’t need to be thinking about if he could trust Minhee or not right now. He was going to hang out with Yoosung.

Seven knocked on the door a few times, crooning, “Yoosungie~’ as he did so. Seven listened to Yoosung’s footsteps as he hopped out of whatever chair he was sitting in and running towards the door.

“Seven!” Yoosung exclaimed as he threw open the door, “you came!”

“Of course I came,” Seven said as he stepped inside, “why wouldn’t I?”

“I dunno, I was just worried something might come up with your work or something and you’d have to cancel,” Yoosung explained, shuffling his feet as he did so.

“Aw, I could never cancel on my cutie Yoosung!” Seven cooed, wrapping the blond up in a bear hug. Yoosung squawked as he tried to free himself, but Seven held the boy to his chest, not letting him go despite his protests.

“Seven let me go you weirdo!” Yoosung yelled, batting against him with his fists. He managed to push the red-head off of him, “also I’m not cute,” he added with a frown. 

Oh he was so cute. All Seven could think of was how funny and adorable it was to watch Yoosung struggle to get his bobby pins back in place after they had been messed up during his struggle.

In his mind, one half of his brain asked, _fellas, is it gay to think your best friend is adorable in nearly everything he does?_

 _God I fucking hope it is,_ the other half of his brain replied.

Okay, so maybe Seven had a teeny tiny crush on Yoosung. But that was it. Just a little crush. Was he gonna let it get in the way of their super great bromance? No way in hell.

But maybe he should stop staring at Yoosung’s face before it got weird.

But also, he had a valid reason. Because there was something different about Yoosung today. Seven frowned as he stared at the blond, trying to figure out if he did something different with his hair or outfit. Hair was still fluffy, he wasn’t wearing anything weird, he wasn’t wearing colored contacts in his eyes—

“You’re not wearing your eyepatch!” Seven shouted as soon as it hit him.

Yoosung froze, one bobby pin in his mouth and the other halfway in his hair. “Oh, yeah, I don’t wear it when I’m alone in my house. And I mean, it’s not like I need to wear it around you,” Yoosung explained, brows furrowing as he took the second bobby pin out of his mouth to create his signature ‘X’ shape.

“It’s nice,” Seven said without thinking. Yoosung finished putting the bobby pin in, and he gave him a confused look. “Uh, I mean like, it’s nice to be able to look into both of your eyes when I’m talking to you.”

God Seven was an idiot.

“Oh, uh, thanks? I guess?” Yoosung shrugged as he moved to the couch. “Anyway, I got smash bros a few days ago and I was thinking we could play together if you’d be down for that?”

Seven grinned. “Oh sweet, innocent Yoosung. Little do you know, I’m a _god_ at Smash Bros. You are so going down,” he told him as he sat down on the couch beside him.

“Don’t be so sure about that,” Yoosung smirked as he handed Seven a remote. “I’m not too bad myself.”

The character screen popped up. Seven went straight for Isabelle while Yoosung chose Kirby.

“You are so going down,” Seven said as Yoosung booted up a game.

Suffice to say, Yoosung was a lot better at Smash than Seven expected. While Seven knew he could beat Yoosung in almost anything, he actually lost to the boy a few times. Not every time though, just a few.

They played Smash for about an hour, then they switched to Mario Kart (which Yoosung somehow beat Seven every single time in), then Seven got out his laptop and they played a few rounds on Overwatch together. After a few hours had passed, both agreed to take a break, and Yoosung made them coffee to drink.

“Thank youuuuu,” Seven sang as Yoosung handed him the cup of coffee before sitting back beside him on the couch. He took a sip and was surprised at how good it was. Obviously Yoosung didn’t have a coffee grinder or anything so it wasn’t near the quality of the RFA Cafe’s, but it was still delicious all the same.

They both sipped at their coffees for a bit in silence, letting their brains cool down from their gaming marathon.

Then, “Seven, Minhee hasn’t interviewed you yet, has she?”

Well so much for not thinking about Minhee.

“No, she hasn’t. What about you?” Seven asked, keeping his eyes on the now black TV screen.

“Not yet, but we’ve been talking about it. I think we’re gonna do it after she interviews Jumin,” he explained.

“Nice,” he commented, really not wanting to have this be the topic of conversation right now. “What are you gonna tell her?” He added.

“Uh, I’m not sure yet. I’m just gonna answer whatever she asks me as honestly as possible I guess,” Yoosung shrugged.

“Are you gonna tell her about…” Seven pointed to his eye to indicate what he was talking about.

This gave Yoosung pause. “I mean… I don’t wanna lie to her. And I feel like that’s a pretty big part of my life as a… you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” Seven nodded.

“What about you though? How much are you gonna tell Minhee?” Yoosung asked him.

Seven took a deep breath before responding. “I’m… not sure. If I’m being honest, I really don’t wanna do the interview, but I know everyone else is doing it, so I kinda feel obligated to join in. But if I do end up doing it, I’m probably only going to give Minhee a very abridged version of my life,” he paused and laughed a bit, “or I could just make something up.”

Yoosung wasn’t laughing though. “I don’t think you should make something up,” he told him with a frown, “I know you don’t like talking about old memories, and you shouldn’t force yourself too. But honestly even if you just give Minhee the abridged version of your life, that’s still more than you’ve told the rest of us. All I know about your childhood is that at some point you were born.” Seven opened his mouth to respond, but Yoosung kept talking. “I’m not asking you to spill your life story to me or anything. I just wanna know why? Minhee you’re wary of because you still don’t trust her fully, but why don’t you trust the rest of us in the RFA?”

Seven sighed, and set his coffee cup down.

“It’s not because I don’t trust you guys,” he started, running his hands through his hair as he looked at his shoes, “you said it yourself, I just don’t like talking about old memories. It makes me remember stuff I’d rather forget,” he paused as he glanced to Yoosung, “I dunno. Maybe one day I could talk to you about it, Yoosung.”

“Why me?”

“Because you’re my best friend, and it’s easier to talk to you than anyone else.” The words slipped out on their own accord, and Seven figured that just proved the point even more.

Yoosung blinked at him, before his expression morphed into a small smile. “I’m glad,” Yoosung said quietly, “I want to be someone you can talk to, so if you ever need to talk about stuff, you can always come to me.” Seven felt something warm in his hand, and he glanced down to see Yoosung was holding it.

Neither of them said anything about it. They didn’t need to. And when Yoosung let go after they had finished their coffee so they could resume playing video games, Seven couldn’t help but wonder what might happen if he were to grab Yoosung’s hand again. 

Not today. But maybe soon.

☽☾

The sound of Minhee knocking echoed off the walls of the office, and she tried to avoid playing with the hem of her dress as she waited for her boss to open the door.

“Minhee? Is that you?” She called out from inside. 

“Yes it’s me, boss,” Minhee answered. 

“You may come in. Make sure to close the door behind you.” Minhee opened the door, ignoring the curious glances from her coworkers that bit at her like bullets as she stepped inside the office. 

Her boss was sitting at her desk, looking as immaculate as ever with her dark hair tied back into a bun, and her pinstripe suit seeming freshly pressed. With one hand she gestured for Minhee to sit down, not saying a word as she typed something into what looked to be her email. It was silent for a few moments, and then the little ‘woosh’ sound that accompanied the sending of an email came from her phone, and she looked up to meet Minhee’s gaze. 

“Sorry about that, had to send something out. Anyway, I called you here today to check your progress on your… project,” her boss lowered her voice a bit when she mentioned the article. 

“Actually I was going to email you when I got the chance. I got the second interview completed, and I have the third interview scheduled,” Minhee explained, making sure her own voice isn’t too loud. 

“I’m glad to hear things are going well,” she told Minhee with a nod, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

She didn’t say anything after that, and Minhee waited for a moment in silence before frowning. 

“Is that… it?” She asked. 

Her boss stared at her for a moment, before shaking her head. “No, it’s not. I actually have a proposition for you,” she began, “the higher ups know there is a special article in the works here. I haven’t told them the specifics, but they know it will increase our readership tenfold and are very excited about it. The problem is, they want these results now. I told them it was impossible to rush this article, as you’re working around the participants schedules, but they were insistent. So I’ve come up with a compromise. 

“If you agree, this will not be one single article, but rather a mini series where you publish each interview individually. They will all be in one collection, and you can submit them as soon as you finish each interview. This way, we can start gaining attention now, which will satisfy the higher ups while also increasing readership,” her boss finished, folding her hands in front of her as she did so. 

“Hmm,” Minhee hummed as she thought over this alternative to her former idea. Her mind was racing with thoughts like, _it would still be the same concept, just in shorter parts, right?_ and _but would that lessen the impact of the article itself? To break it into pieces? Or would that just make it more powerful?_

“I’m just worried that the impact of the article won’t be felt as strongly if we separate the interviews,” Minhee voiced, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. 

“I understand your concern, but I think you’re looking about it all wrong,” her boss told her quietly, “the more you spread out the interviews, the more chances you have for people to see it. And with a thing like this, if you really want it to have an impact on ghoul-human relations, you want it to be seen by as many people as possible.” 

“I… guess you’re right,” Minhee admitted, scratching her chin, “plus I suppose we really don’t have a choice if the higher ups are demanding this. When do you want the first one on our website?” 

“As soon as possible, Minhee,” her boss said. 

Shit. Good thing she already had Jaehee’s interview mostly edited. 

“Alright boss,” Minhee nodded, “I’ll email the first interview to you as soon as I’m finished editing it, along with a brief intro.” She went to rise up out of her chair, but paused. “Is there anything more you need, boss? Because if not I wanna go to get working on that.” 

“No Minhee, you may go,” she said, dismissing Minhee with a wave of her hand. Minhee gave her a grateful smile and headed towards the door, but before she could open it her boss spoke again. 

“Also Minhee? One more thing.” 

“Yes?” 

“We’ve been working together for a long time now, and given the nature of this project, I think it’s appropriate for you to call me Choyeon. But please continue to refer to me by my title in front of your coworkers though.” 

Minhee smiled at her bos- at Choyeon as her hand grabbed the door handle. 

“Alright Choyeon. I’ll email you soon.” 

“I’m looking forward to it, Minhee.”

☽☾

Sunlight shone through the windows of the CCG building, creating sharp shadows where the light was blocked by a figure walking down the halls.

“So it is believed the Jester was responsible for the death of Rank 1 Investigator Park Sunwoo, is that correct?” The investigator asked the younger investigator who was scrambling to keep up with them. 

“Y-Yes Associate Special Class Vanderwood. The injuries left by the ghoul’s kagune matched with that of Jester’s.” 

“Of course. That bastard,” Vanderwood muttered under their breath, “he took Investigator Park’s quinque as well. I don’t know what he intends to do with a quinque, but it can’t be anything good. I bet that smug arsehole is laughing it up right now.” 

Vanderwood entered the conference room at the end of the hall, and was greeted by the sight of four investigators clustered around a computer. 

“What are you all doing? I thought we had a meeting,” Vanderwood asked as they approached the group. 

“Associate Special Class, you have to come see this!” One of the investigators—a first class— said, waving them closer. 

“What is it?” Vanderwood asked as they leaned toward the laptop screen. 

“It’s an article that was published yesterday,” the same investigator who waved them over answered, “it’s by a journalist using the pen name Choi M. They interviewed a ghoul.” 

Vanderwood’s eyes widened as they grabbed the laptop from the table, ignoring the protests from the other investigators. They skimmed the article, clenching their jaw as they realized this was not a prank. 

“So you’re telling me that somehow, a journalist managed to do what an entire organization dedicated to hunting ghouls could not?” Vanderwood asked, putting the laptop down and whipping back towards the First Class Investigator standing behind them. 

“Um-” 

“Doesn’t matter,” Vanderwood cut him off before he could form a single word in response, “all that matters now, is finding out who that journalist is, and if they really are a human like they claim to be, alright?” 

“Associate Special Class, we can’t arrest them. This falls under the classification of reporter’s privilege.”

Vanderwood narrowed their eyes. “Do you think I don’t know that? I’m well aware we can’t arrest them for interviewing a ghoul. However, we can bring them in for tests and questioning on suspicion of them _being_ a ghoul.” The First Class’ eyes widened and he opened his mouth to respond, but Vanderwood held up a hand. 

“If the tests come back negative, then we will leave them alone. But somehow, a supposedly ‘human’ journalist managed to gain the trust of multiple ghouls. Enough so to tell their life stories for them. That’s pretty fucking suspicious if you ask me. So let’s clear their name from our list as soon as possible, because as of right now, they are a top ghoul suspect.” 

The investigator blinked, before nodding furiously. “Yes Associate Special Class. Will do!” He ran off, and the other investigators in the room filed off as well, the meeting seemingly canceled in wake of the news. 

Vanderwood turned back to the screen, narrowing their eyes at the name 'Choi M.' under the headline. 

_Choi M., I will find out how you did this. I can promise you that._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S YA BOI VANDERWOOD!!! /john cena theme song plays/ 
> 
> okay so like originally in my plan Vanderwood was supposed to basically be the Uta for this au where he makes masks for ghouls, but then I was writing this chapter and I was like hmm... Vanderwood as a CCG agent... yes... that works out nicely... so that's how we got here
> 
> also originally in my plan Minhee was supposed to just publish all the interviews at once but that was gonna be a bit before all of them were completed and really I was just like it might be better to have her start publishing them now
> 
> (oh and right as I was writing these authors notes I realized Minhee shouldn't have her full name on the article in case public opinion towards her is negative, so she's going by Choi M. to maintain at least a bit of anonymity from the general public) 
> 
> anyway I hope you guys enjoyed!! Please leave a kudos and a comment if you did! Comments really make my day!
> 
> Also feel free to hmu on tumblr! I'm always down to talk tg or yooseven or just mysmes in general!
> 
> cactusskiddo.tumblr.com


	9. There's Gotta Be Butterflies Somewhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhee interviews Jumin, and later she and Jaehee go on a territory check together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI IT'S BEEN A WHILE! Sorry it's been so long, midterms came and then finals came around again and then I was busy over spring break so I just haven't had a lot of time to work on this but HEY it's a new quarter and I have pretty much all morning classes so that means more free time uwu
> 
> a n y w a y we're getting closer to the one of the big events of this fic that will kick things into the second act so look forward to that ;)
> 
> chapter title taken from the song 'would you be so kind' by dodie
> 
> so thank you guys so much for reading!!! like I said, sorry it took a while for this update, but here it is! I hope you enjoy it :)

As expected, the interview went viral. 

_The Moon and Sun_ received more web traffic in the two days after Minhee posted the article than it had received in the past month. Everyone was talking about it, as ghouls had finally been thrown directly into the public’s eye. And it seemed everyone had their own opinion to share. 

For some, it opened their eyes to the fact that ghouls were not only people, but also that they had their own struggles too. Supporters of ghouls began to ask questions like, ‘why aren’t we supporting research to find alternate food sources for ghouls instead of killing them?’ and ‘maybe if we didn’t hunt them down they wouldn’t kill humans in back alleys.’ 

But this public attention was a double-sided coin, and it opened up new conversation on the other side of the debate as well. Comments and questions like, ‘those investigators did a bad job if they didn’t find a ghoul child,’ and ‘if they can just live on the streets with us what is the CCG even doing?’ 

However, there was one question that both sides wanted to know the answer to. 

“Who is Choi M.?” 

Naturally, her office figured it out without much effort. The day after the article was published, Minhee came into work and had been bombarded with questions from her coworkers, all demanding to know how the hell she’d gotten interviews with ghouls. Minhee was pretty sure she’d said the phrase, ‘I can’t talk about that’ at least a hundred times before the day was up. 

Things at the RFA Cafe though stayed… relatively the same. Everyone congratulated her on the success so far. Even V, who was out of the country for a business-related trip, sent her an email saying he had read the first interview and thought it was excellent. 

So things were good. Actually, things were pretty great. And it was made even better by the fact that Minhee was about to have her interview with Jumin. 

Using the information that Jaehee had given her about Jumin not actually being as busy as he claimed, Minhee had cornered him one day and demanded her schedule an interview for her. When he tried to decline, she called him out on just wanting time with his cat. 

Eventually they came to a compromise. They were going to have the interview, but it was going to be at Jumin’s penthouse. 

Jumin had told her he was sending a private car to meet Minhee outside her work to take her back to his place, but she was still surprised when she stepped out of her office building to find a very expensive looking car parked right in front of the door. 

There was an older gentleman leaning against the car door. When Minhee approached the car hesitantly, he perked up and smiled at her. 

“You must be Choi Minhee, right?” He asked. 

“Uh, yeah, that’s me,” Minhee answered, eyes wide as she stared at the car. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I work for Mr. Han. You can call me Driver Kim. Do you have everything you need?” He had a calming demeanor, and his smile was genuine. Minhee liked him already. 

“I do, thank you,” she said, smiling back. Driver Kim nodded and opened the passenger door for her, gesturing for her to take a seat inside. When she did, he shut the door and moved to the drivers side, started the car, and pulled onto the road. 

As they drove, Minhee realized Driver Kim wasn’t much in the ways of conversation, seeming to be more of the ‘kind but quiet’ type. Minhee didn’t push it, and instead turned her attention to just how smoothly the car glided through the streets of Seoul, and how the leather beneath her legs felt like it was cradling her. 

It only took about ten minutes for them to reach Jumin’s building. Driver Kim dropped her off at the curb, telling her she was free to go inside, as someone would bring her to where she needed to go. Stepping inside the foyer of the apartment building, Minhee couldn’t take her eyes off the giant chandelier in the center of the room. It was black and silver, crystals descending in a swirled pattern towards the ground. The light from the chandelier reflected off the smooth black tile of the floor, bathing the whole entrance in a soft glow. 

Minhee stood and gaped, unsure of where she was supposed to go or who she was supposed to be meeting. Then, she heard a clicking along the tile floor, and looked up to see a middle-aged man in a grey suit rushing towards her. 

“Hello! You’re Choi Minhee, right?” The man asked, a sheepish smile on his face. 

“Yes, that’s me,” Minhee answered. 

“Nice to meet you, I’m Mr. Han’s assistant, Kim Hajun. Feel free to just call me Hajun though,” he greeted her. 

“It’s nice to meet you too, Hajun,” Minhee said, wondering how much this guy’s life revolved his job. From what Jaehee had told her, working for Han Jumin was hell. 

“If you follow me, I’ll show you to where you’ll be conducting your interview,” Hajun said, walking towards one of the elevators in the foyer. The doors of the elevator matched the smooth black marble of the walls, and they slid open silently as soon as Hajun pressed the elevator button. Hajun stepped inside and Minhee followed, then Hajun pulled out a keycard and swiped it over a scanner before pressing the penthouse button at the top of the floors. One of the walls of the elevator was just a giant floor to ceiling mirror, and Minhee used it to adjust her bangs as they rode up. 

When they arrived at the penthouse floor, Hajun led her out of the elevator and into one of the most posh apartments she’d ever seen. 

They exited into what appeared to be another entryway, but instead of the black walls and floors color scheme Minhee saw in the foyer of the building, this color scheme was the exact opposite, with white marble floors and walls and black accents. Hajun led her down the hall of the entryway and into a connected living room and kitchen, where Jumin was sitting on a plush white couch in front of a modern-styled stone fireplace. 

“Good evening, Minhee,” Jumin greeted, rising to his feet to bow to her as she walked over to the couch. Minhee bowed back and Jumin gestured for her to sit, which she did. 

“Hi Jumin,” she greeted once she was settled. 

“I’m glad you arrived safely. I trust your ride with Driver Kim was pleasant?” Jumin asked, sitting back down himself. 

“Yes, it very much was,” Minhee told him with a smile. Jumin seemed pleased at this, and turned his attention to the coffee table in front of them. 

“Would you like some wine? I have red and white, whichever you prefer,” Jumin asked. Minhee looked down, and realized there were two wine glasses on the table, along with two bottles of wine. Jumin’s was already filled with what looked like red wine, while hers was empty. 

“I’ll have white,” she told him. He nodded and picked up the bottle labelled ‘chardonnay’ and poured some into her glass. “Thank you,” she said when he was done, picking the glass up to take a sip. Her eyes widened when the taste hit her tongue, and she quickly realized this was _very_ expensive wine. 

Jumin meanwhile picked up his own glass and took a long sip from it as well. Minhee stared at the red liquid in his glass when a realization hit her. 

“Is… is that wine you’re drinking, Jumin? Or is that something else?” She asked. 

Jumin put the glass down, and the corners of his lips quirked with a small smile. “I think you know the answer to that.” 

Minhee shrugged in a ‘fair enough’ way, before pulling out her phone and notebook. “So let’s get things started, shall we?” Minhee suggested, “now, before-” Minhee was cut off by something brushing at her legs, and she looked down to see a small white cat staring up at her. 

“That’s Elizabeth the 3rd,” Jumin said in way of introduction. “She wants you to pet her.” 

“She’s so pretty,” Minhee said with a smile, reaching down to run her fingers through the silky white fur. The cat meowed and nuzzled her face into Minhee’s palm, and Minhee reached down to pick her up and placed the cat on her lap. 

“She likes you,” Jumin commented. 

“I’ve always been a cat person,” Minhee told Jumin with a shrug while scratching Elizabeth’s chin. Elizabeth began to purr, and snuggled further into her lap. “Do you mind if she sits on my lap for the interview?” 

“She seems to like you. I wouldn’t want to disturb her, so yes, please keep her on your lap.” 

“Okay, let’s begin,” Minhee said, readjusting to accommodate Elizabeth, “let me clarify a few things first. First off, is it alright if I record everything so that I can transcribe it onto my computer later?” Jumin nodded, and Minhee pressed the record button on her phone. “Cool. So to get everything on record, you will be completely anonymous in this interview. I will not include your name, where this is taking place, and if you accidentally reveal any identifying information during this interview I will redact it later. Do you have any questions?” 

“May I have one of my lawyers look over this interview before you publish it in order to ensure my anonymity?” Jumin asked. 

Minhee blinked a few times. “Um, yes, that can be arranged.” 

“Then I have no further questions.” 

“Great, let’s get started then,” Minhee glanced down at her notebook, “alright, to kick things off: are you a ghoul? This is just for clarification.” 

“Yes, I am a ghoul,” he answered calmly. 

“Would you be willing to tell me a bit of what your childhood was like, growing up as a ghoul? What got you from there to here?” 

Jumin let out a low chuckle, and took another sip of his ‘wine’. 

“My childhood, alright. This will be interesting to explain without giving away any details as to who I am,” Jumin set down his glass and leaned back against the couch. 

“I come from a long line of distinguished, wealthy ghouls. So as you can imagine, growing up as the heir to a dynasty comes with its own sets of perks and challenges. For the first 8 years of my life, I had very limited exposure to the outside world. I was taught by a private tutor about what I was, who my family was, and what the world around me was like. But it wasn’t until my 8th birthday that I actually got to interact with people beyond the scope of my immediate family and servants. 

“From another ghoul family that was of similar status to my own, I met a boy the same age as me and we became lifelong friends. I’m sure you know who I’m talking about,” Jumin said to Minhee. She nodded, remembering that Jumin and V were childhood friends. “That was my first time interacting with someone my own age. We became very close, and after a while our families decided to have us be tutored together. 

“Growing up, a common lesson imparted to me was that we were to live alongside the humans as inconspicuously as possible. After all, we were partially in the public eye, and if we were to continue running our business as we had been doing for generations, we had to keep the humans from suspecting anything. So both my friend and I were taught from a young age how to blend in with humans.” 

“What did you think of humans?” Minhee asked. “I know you said you were told to blend in with us, but how did your family view us? Were we equal to you ghouls, or were we lesser than you?” 

Jumin was silent for a moment, hand rubbing at his chin as he seemingly thought about the question. “I… was never really told what to think of humans exactly. Rather than focusing on if one species was better or not, I was more just told that we had to live with them. Our being ghouls was just a fact of our lives and nothing more.” 

Minhee raised an eyebrow at that. “That’s… surprising. From one of my other interviews, I was told about a practice called Gourmet Shows? According to my source it was supposedly a common practice among the ghoul elite, which I’m sure your family was a part of.” 

“I’ve heard of them,” Jumin said cooly, “my father however did not approve of taking part in such an… _undignified affair._ ” 

“If you ask me, that’d imply he thought of us humans as worthy of respect.” Elizabeth meowed at this, as if to second this opinion. 

Jumin hummed at this. “I suppose so. Though of course if you want to know the answer to that for sure, it would do you better to ask my father about that directly.” 

“Perhaps one day,” Minhee mused. 

“Perhaps one day,” Jumin repeated. “But to get back on topic, when I turned 12, my father decided to send me to boarding school. It was a human run school, but my father wanted me to gain familiarity with being in largely human environments, and also to receive a higher quality education than what my tutor could offer me. My father had a ghoul employee of ours obtain a job there, so that way they could assist me in obtaining food for myself. My aforementioned best friend was also sent to this school, and so our fathers set it up so we were roommates.” 

“A human boarding school?” Minhee raised a brow, “to go from being entirely separated from anyone outside your immediate family, to suddenly living around hundreds of strange humans in a confined space must’ve been difficult and frightening for you.” 

“I didn’t think of it as frightening,” Jumin clarified, “it was a challenge from my father, so that’s how I viewed it. It was meant to push me past my limits of comfort, and see if I could succeed in the human world as my father had before me. And considering I had my best friend with me the entire time, it was actually quite enjoyable at times.” 

“Did you have any close calls while you were there?” Minhee asked. 

Jumin laughed a bit at this. “Yes, there were several. In our first few years there, my friend and I were very careful. We only ate the food our insider gave us in the dead of night, when we were sure no one else was awake and going to walk in our room unannounced. But as we grew older, we became a bit… reckless.” 

“Though to be fair, that’s expected of teenagers,” Minhee pointed out. 

“Yes, I suppose it is. We had a few close calls, but we graduated just like everyone else. After that, my friend and I went our separate ways to different universities. University was rather uneventful, a similar system still being in place for me to obtain my food courtesy of my father. Once I graduated from university, I began working under my father at his company, and also became involved with the ghoul community in our area. My best friend introduced me to the woman who would eventually start our organization, and that’s I’ve ended up where I am today.” 

Minhee hummed and wrote a few notes down, careful to keep petting Elizabeth as she did so, before looking back up at Jumin. 

“Thank you for that. Now, do you mind if I ask just a few more questions?” 

“Go right ahead,” Jumin said, taking another sip from his glass. 

“You mentioned your father a lot, but never your mother. Is there any particular reason why?” 

If Minhee hadn’t been watching Jumin’s face closely, she would’ve missed the way his jaw clenched at the question. As if sensing Jumin’s internal distress, Elizabeth hopped off of Minhee’s lap, and went to go sit in his instead. 

“When I was very young, my father divorced my mother,” Jumin began, resting his hand on Elizabeth’s back as she settled onto his legs, “for a time, they both retained partial custody of me. Both of my parents were powerful executives in their respective companies. But shortly after the divorce, she was confronted by another ghoul at night, and was killed as a result.” 

Minhee blinked. “I’m… so sorry.” 

“Don’t be,” Jumin said with a wave of his hand, “I was very young at the time, and hardly remember the woman.” Minhee would’ve believed him, but she noticed the way his hand clenched into a fist as he said that. So she decided that was enough of that. 

“Alright then, let’s move on.” 

“Yes, let’s,” Jumin agreed. 

“We went over this, but just for clarification’s sake, what is your exact opinion of humans? Do you think of us as equal to ghouls, or are ghouls the superior species?” Jumin furrowed his brows at this. 

“I suppose, if I had to put a name to my beliefs, that I would say both species are equal. We all possess the same levels of intelligence and sentience. So we simply are meant to coexist with one another as two different types of beings with different dietary needs.” Minhee smiled at Jumin at that. 

“Do you think humans and ghouls could ever learn to live in peace with each other?” She asked. 

Jumin leaned forward where he was sitting, and was quiet for a moment before responding. “While it would be ideal for both parties to learn to get along, the irrationality of emotion would be the thing that gets in the way. Both ghouls and humans have been hurt by the other side. We’ve been killing each other for centuries, and the grudge that carries on from that is not going to just go away. So while I would prefer it if both sides could learn to live with one another in peace, I don’t think it will happen.” 

“Okay, last question. Is there anything you wish to tell the humans reading this article?” 

Jumin raised his eyebrows in surprise at the question. “Hmm, what a peculiar question. Let me think for a moment of what to say,” he took another sip of his wine, “I suppose I’ll tell the humans this. You’re currently trying to eradicate all ghouls, and I will tell you from a completely impartial standpoint that it will not work. While you do outnumber us, you will never find all of us. The more of us you kill, the larger of a wedge you drive between our species. If you keep with your current mission, no parties will win. But, if you change your direction and start trying to find new ways to coexist with ghouls, then both parties will win. I think it’s obvious what the logical choice here is.” 

“That was very well said,” Minhee commented, turning the recording off, “thank you for your time with me today. I appreciate you agreeing to this interview.” 

“You’re welcome, Minhee,” Jumin said, watching as Minhee gathered her things. “I will have Driver Kim take you home.” 

She put her things back in her bag, and downed the rest of the wine Jumin had given her. Pushing herself to her feet, she made her way out of the living room, Elizabeth meowing a small goodbye as she did so. 

“Jumin?” Minhee called out, pausing in the entryway and looking back at the man still sitting with the cat on his lap. 

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry about your mother. I wish you could’ve gotten the chance to get to know her better.” 

Jumin was quiet for a moment. 

“Hajun is waiting for you downstairs. I recommend you go.” 

Minhee didn’t say anything more as she left the room and made her way back to the elevators.

☽☾

“This is just a territory check, so are you sure you wish to come with? It’ll be quite boring,” Jaehee asked, raising her eyebrows across the counter.

“Yes, I’m sure. I don’t really have anything else to do, plus I think it’ll just be nice to get out and… see what ghoul territory checks are like,” Minhee explained, coming up with that on the spot. The truth of the matter was she just wanted to spend more time with Jaehee, but she didn’t want to _say_ that. 

Jaehee smiled and put the cloth she was wiping the counter down with away. “Alright then. Grab your mask and your quinque and we’ll head out. I’m just going to finish cleaning up,” Jaehee told her. Minhee let out a small cheer in excitement, and ran into the staff apartment above the cafe to grab her stuff. 

Minhee found the small bag thrown on top of the coffee table, and rummaged through it to pull out her sweatshirt, mask, and the quinque. The whip was in its briefcase form, and she decided to leave it like that unless she needed to actually turn the quinque to its weapon form. 

As she was pulling the sweatshirt over her head, she heard the soft click of flats against wood as Jaehee entered the room. When her head was free of the fabric, she saw Jaehee leaning against the doorway, her mask already in hand. 

“Was everything okay cleaning up?” Minhee asked as she pulled her hair into a ponytail. 

“Yes, it was,” Jaehee said, walking towards her, “are you bringing your quinque with you?” 

Minhee tightened her ponytail before turning to glance at the briefcase on the table. “Yup. I’d rather have it just in case.” 

“I’m glad. I doubt anything will happen, but if it does it’ll be good to have a way to defend yourself,” Jaehee told her as she walked past Minhee and towards the ladder to the roof. Minhee followed, and soon they were standing on the edge of the RFA cafe, looking over the city skyline. 

Minhee pulled her mask on, and Jaehee followed. 

“Do you wish to hop on my back? For easier travel of course,” Jaehee asked, eyes ducking to the ground. Minhee nodded, and Jaehee bent down slightly so Minhee could hop up on the woman’s back. Jaehee’s arms wrapped beneath Minhee’s legs, and Minhee was suddenly very aware of just how strong Jaehee was. 

“Let me know if you need me to stop,” Jaehee told her. Then, she jumped off the roof, and suddenly they were running. 

Minhee was used to this by now, after having piggybacked on a ghoul many times before. But she hadn’t ridden on Jaehee’s back before, and she found out Jaehee was _fast_. Not as fast as Yoosung, admittedly, but much faster than Zen for sure. 

They slowed when they were a few blocks away from the RFA cafe, and came to a stop on top of a bookstore Minhee had passed by a few times. Jaehee let go of Minhee’s legs, and Minhee landed on the ground, getting her footing before moving to stand next to Jaehee. 

“Are you looking for anything specific?” Minhee asked quietly. Jaehee had her eyes closed, and seemed to be concentrating on something. 

“I’m just listening for any sounds of a fight or something,” Jaehee explained, “while my hearing as a ghoul is better than a humans, it’s not that good in comparison to Jumin’s, so I can’t hear as far as he can.” 

“Jumin has good hearing for a ghoul?” Minhee asked. 

“Yes, he has some of the best senses I’ve ever come across,” Jaehee said, “like humans, some ghouls are better at certain things than others. For instance, Luciel, myself, and Zen are very proficient at fighting, while Yoosung can run faster than any of us. And in Jumin’s case, he may not be the best at combat, but he can hear things further away than any of the rest of us can.” 

“Who would you say has the second best senses in the group?” Minhee asked, wanting to know more. 

Jaehee hummed. “I’m not sure. Perhaps Luciel.” 

Minhee nodded and went quiet after that, letting Jaehee resume her listening. 

Her bangs waved in the breeze, the elastic band of the butterfly mask tight against her head and putting her right on the edge of a headache. Glancing over, she saw Jaehee illuminated against the light of the city, the deer horns from her mask reminiscent of glowing tree branches. 

Then, 

“I’m not sure, but I think I hear something this way. Let’s go check it out.” 

Jaehee bent down and Minhee hopped on her back again, and they raced across the rooftops towards a grocery store she’d bought some persimmons from on her way back from the cafe one night. 

Slowing down, Jaehee let Minhee hop down from her back, and the two women slowly made their way towards the edge of the supermarket roof. Peeking to the dumpster behind the store, below, as her eyes adjusted to the gloom, Minhee was just able to make out the silhouette of someone kneeling over some kind of animal. 

Minhee looked over to Jaehee, who pointed below and mouthed, ‘ghoul’. Then, she gestured for Minhee to come closer, and without warning Jaehee scooped the girl into her arms before jumping. 

Now down from the roof, it was easy to see the ghoul crouched over the dead body of a person. They had a hood over their head, so Minhee couldn’t see what they looked like, but she could see the victim. It was an older man, the grey in his hair spattered with his own blood. His dark eyes stared blankly above, the second giveaway to the fact that he was dead. The first giveaway was that he was disemboweled. 

“Excuse me,” Jaehee said, “this territory is claimed.” 

The figure didn’t move to look at them, so they were left to stare at their hood as they started to speak. 

“Actually, correct me if I’m wrong, but behind this supermarket is actually not RFA territory. This sits right at the border.” From his voice, Minhee could tell it was a man. He also sounded familiar, as if she’d talked to him before.

Jaehee’s lips twisted into a grimace. “Technically, you’re correct,” she relented, “but the fact that you’ve hunted so close to the border still violates territory rules, as you had to have lured this man from our territory to the border.” 

“You can’t prove that,” the man shot back, “for all you know, I could’ve killed this guy in a whole other sector and brought him over here.” 

“I think we all know that’s not what you did,” Jaehee wasn’t giving up. 

The man straightened up to his full height, and suddenly it clicked where Minhee had heard his voice before. 

Unknown. 

“I gotta get going, there are CCG agents heading this way and the Savior won’t be happy if I get into an altercation with them again,” Unknown explained as he pushed himself to his feet. He turned around to look back at Jaehee and Minhee, and his white hair confirmed Minhee’s suspicion that it was indeed him. “Like I said last time we met, I don’t want to start a war between our groups. I apologize about the territory violation, it won’t happen again.” 

“You said that last time,” Jaehee pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Yes, but I don’t think you want to make an enemy of my group over something as silly as one dead human,” Unknown said, stretching his arms over his head. 

“What is your organization exactly? And who is the Savior?” Minhee asked, jumping into the conversation. Jaehee whipped her head towards Minhee and frowned, while Unknown seemed pleasantly surprised at her piping up. 

“I’ve told you before, Mint Eye is a paradise. The Savior is the one who founded our group, specifically for those who have been scorned by the outside world. She saved all of us,” as he spoke, he made his way towards the dumpster, and hopped onto it with ease. “We hope one day you’ll consider joining us.” 

And with that, he disappeared onto the roof, leaving Minhee and Jaehee alone. 

“That was… weird,” Minhee said, still staring at where Unknown had just been. 

“I agree, but we should be getting out of here. He told us there were CCG agents on the way, did he not?” Jaehee asked, looking around for any signs of movement. 

Minhee opened her mouth to respond, but instead heard someone shout, “THERE THEY ARE!” Suddenly, the back alley was filled with light as boots pounded against the wet pavement, and CCG agents came running in. A flashlight blinded her as Jaehee grabbed her arm and pushed Minhee behind her. Minhee fumbled for her briefcase, blinking to try and adjust her eyes so she could see what was going on. 

After the spots cleared from her vision, she realized they were two CCG agents standing in front of her and Jaehee, with only the dead man’s body acting as a barrier between them. The agent on the left—a small young man—was staring at her and Jaehee with wide eyes. The agent on the right was much taller—and was instead glaring at them both with narrowed eyes. They were definitely the senior investigator of the two. 

“Doe, how nice to see you again. It’s been a while,” the senior investigator said, their voice dripping with sarcasm. Jaehee’s eyebrow twitched at that. “Butterfly, we haven’t had the chance to meet yet. I’m Associate Special Class Vanderwood. Hopefully we can get to know each other better when I take you into custody.” As they spoke, they pulled out their briefcase, and Minhee watched as it turned into what could almost be described as some sort of laser gun. Beside them, the younger investigator pulled out a normal looking gun, and pointed it at Minhee with shaky hands. 

Jaehee lowered into an attack position. “Do you really want to do this right now, Vanderwood?” She asked, her eyes turning black. 

“Well, you see, someone has to do the cleaning up around here. And since everyone else is doing a fuck all job of it, it looks like it has to be me,” Vanderwood said. 

“Have it your way,” Jaehee replied. Minhee watched her kagune erupt, and next thing she knew, Jaehee was jumping at Vanderwood. 

Minhee could only stand in shock for a moment, until she felt something whiz by her ear. Turning around, she saw the younger investigator with a gun in his hand, and realized she was going to have to fight him. 

“Okay, didn’t wanna fight, but it looks like you give me no choice,” Minhee says, pressing the button on her briefcase to turn it into her whip. “This is your last chance. If you don’t want to fight, we can just sit here and watch those two go at it.” 

The younger investigator’s eyes widened at her whip. “Y-You have a quinque?” He stared for a moment, before shaking his head, “that’s not important right now. Yes, I have to fight you. It’s kind of my job.” 

“Alright then.” 

Minhee lowered herself into an attack position. Her breathing evened out, and her eyes narrowed as she decided where and how she was going to attack. In the back of her mind, that small voice of reason told her she should be feeling very uncomfortable with the idea of battling a CCG agent right now, but she didn’t. She had to defend herself, and that was that. 

She jumped at him first. Her whip shot forward towards his leg, but he jumped out of the way just in time. Another shot went off, and this time it hit the wall behind her. Minhee remembered Zen mentioning the CCG used bullets specially intended for ghouls, which meant they were extra deadly to humans. She wasn’t fast enough to dodge bullets, so that meant Minhee was going to have to get that gun away from him as soon as possible. 

Minhee threw her whip towards his leg again, but before it could get close, she pulled it back and threw it again towards his arm. It just missed, but he stumbled. Minhee continued her assault, giving him no time to aim as he was too busy dodging. 

Behind her, she heard electricity cackle followed by a scream of pain from Jaehee. Minhee froze in place, and looked back to see if Jaehee was okay. 

Then a sharp pain exploded in her ear.

Her hand flew up to her ear, and it came back covered in blood. It took a moment for her to register that the bullet had grazed her. 

Minhee wanted to go help Jaehee, but she needed to focus on the younger investigator first. She was ready to end this fight. 

She resumed her assault on him, but her attacks became more vicious. She managed to land hits on his arms, his legs, before opening a large gash across his chest. He gasped as her whip wrapped around his arm, wrenching the gun from his hand. Then, she lifted her foot up and kicked him in his wounded chest, sending him flying into the wall and onto his ass. 

Minhee ran over to the gun and stuffed it in her sweatshirt pocket so the investigator couldn’t grab it again. Then, she ran over to see how Jaehee was faring. 

Jaehee seemed to be in the middle of a very intense hand to hand combat situation with Vanderwood. She was using her three kagune to hit him from different angles, but they blocked them with ease. Vanderwood kept aiming for Jaehee’s chest with their large gun, and when they did Minhee could see bolts of electricity bouncing off the end like some really intense taser. Jaehee managed to avoid all of these, but Minhee could tell she wasn’t going to be able to keep it up much longer. 

Using Vanderwood’s preoccupation with Jaehee, Minhee threw her whip to the arm holding their weapon. It was about to wrap around their forearm, when they locked eyes with Minhee and jumped away. Then, Vanderwood pointed their gun at her, and Minhee dropped to the floor as a blast of electricity went flying over her head. Looking up, she watched as Vanderwood readjusted their aim to point towards her again, and she scrambled to her feet in a futile attempt to get out of the way. 

Everything happened in a second. 

Jaehee, from where she had been on the wall behind Vanderwood’s head, launched herself towards Minhee to push her out of the way of the blast. Together the two of them rolled to a stop, and Jaehee leapt to her feet while grabbing Minhee’s quinque. The whip wrapped around Vanderwood’s forearm before their hand was being wrenched to the side. Then, blood spattered against the wall as one of Jaehee’s kagune tentacles pierced through their shoulder. 

“ _FUCK!_ ” Vanderwood screamed, grabbing their shoulder in pain. Using this distraction, Jaehee handed the whip back to Minhee, before wrapping her arms around the other woman’s waist, and using her kagune to pull the two of them onto the roof of the supermarket once more. 

Minhee clung to Jaehee as the woman carried her bridal style across the rooftops. The wind whistling against her grazed ear stung, and Minhee closed her eyes as they fled. 

After a while, Jaehee slowed. Minhee opened her eyes to see they were far away from where they had been originally, and realized Jaehee must’ve been running at top speed. 

When she stopped, Jaehee fell to her knees as she tried to catch her breath, and Minhee awkwardly rolled out of her arms and onto the gravel of the roof. 

“Are you okay, Minhee?” Jaehee asked between gasps for breath. 

“I’m fine, Jaehee,” Minhee told her, pushing her mask off and shifting so they were sitting face to face. 

Jaehee looked up, and her eyes focused on the blood coming from Minhee’s ear. “No you’re not. You’re hurt.” 

“No, it was just a graze,” Minhee said while shaking her head, “I’m fine. Really. But Jaehee,” she shifted closer to Jaehee, “are _you_ okay?” 

Jaehee nodded, though Minhee noticed her wince. “I got hit once by that electric quinque of Vanderwood’s, but I’ve mostly healed by now,” she explained, clutching her stomach. Her breaths began to quiet, and Minhee tentatively reached a hand towards her stomach. 

Lifting her hand, Jaehee nodded in answer to the silent question Minhee had posed. As gently as possible, Minhee lifted the fabric away from Jaehee’s abdomen, and sucked a breath in between her teeth when she saw the charred skin left there. 

“I’ll be fine. I just need to give it a bit of time and it will heal,” Jaehee told her. Her hand found Minhee’s and squeezed tightly, and she gave Minhee a forced smile. 

Minhee didn’t smile back. Instead, her free hand wandered up to cup Jaehee’s cheek, thumb running under the edge of her mask. 

“I was so scared when I heard you scream,” she told Jaehee softly, “I thought that something really bad had happened. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to come help you sooner.” 

Even in the gloom of the night, Minhee could see the blush across Jaehee’s cheeks. 

“It’s not your fault. You were busy fighting your own battle,” Jaehee insisted. 

“I know…” Minhee whispered, “I just don’t know what I would do if I lost you.” 

They leaned closer to each other, and Minhee’s heart began to pound. 

Then, Jaehee clenched her jaw and turned away. “We should probably get back to the cafe before the others miss us.” 

Minhee sagged like a deflated balloon, and nodded. “Yeah, I guess we should.” Pushing herself to her feet, Minhee offered a hand to Jaehee, and pulled the woman up beside her. “Are you okay to run back?” 

Jaehee’s hand went to her abdomen again, and she nodded. “Yes, I’m fine.” She crouched down and gestured for Minhee to get on her back, and Minhee hopped on. 

The run back was a bit slower than usual, but otherwise the two women made it back to the RFA Cafe safe and sound. 

That night, once she was back in her apartment, Minhee found herself dreaming of honey brown eyes. 

And the next day, the CCG updated Butterfly’s ranking from a C to a B.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry to torture you all with that gayhee scene I just gotta keep up the tension ;) 
> 
> also if you want to know how uncreative I am and want to know what Vanderwood's quinque is I totally based it off of the T-Human quinque from the manga because I remembered electric kagune exist and I was like "oh yeah let's give Vanderwood that kind of quinque" 
> 
> anyway make sure to let me know what you thought of this chapter in the comments below! your feedback always makes my day :) 
> 
> also don't be shy, feel free to hmu on tumblr!  
> cactusskiddo.tumblr.com


	10. But Something About You Feels Okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhee gets some unexpected visitors at work, and Yoosung and Seven like to watch anime together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa another chapter so soon! I know right it's unthinkable. 
> 
> Okay but really it's the start of the quarter still so things are pretty slow going, so I'm taking advantage of my free time while I have it because god knows soon I'll be hella busy and have no time to update this rip
> 
> Also, I now have legit chapter titles instead of the bullshit I was putting before! These are all song lyrics from songs that I think match the mood a bit of each chapter so feel free to go give em a listen! (this chapter's title is taken from the song unsaid by flor)
> 
> anyway, thank you guys so much for reading! please leave a comment if you enjoy this fic, they really make my day :) hope y'all like the chapter!

**Boss:** Minhee, I’m going to need you to come into work as soon as possible. 

Minhee squinted at her screen in the gloom of her room, confused by the text she was seeing on her phone. She wasn’t supposed to come in for several more hours. Choyeon knew this. The only reason she would ask her to come in early was if something was wrong. 

**Minhee:** Got it, Choyeon. I’ll be there soon. 

Putting down her phone, Minhee rolled out of bed and stretched her arms as she straightened up her legs. It wasn’t that early, as it was a bit after 8 am, but Minhee wasn’t used to having to get out of bed at this time. 

“Irina, are you here?” Minhee asked, poking her head out of her bedroom. 

To her surprise, it was Tanya who was sitting on her couch, frozen in the middle of eating a piece of scrambled egg as she stared in surprise at Minhee. 

“Oh, hi Tanya,” Minhee said, fully stepping out of her bedroom. 

“Miss Choi, hello,” Tanya said, putting her bowl down and rushing to her feet, “I’m sorry about my lack of formality. You are normally not awake at this hour, and-” 

“Tanya, you’re fine,” Minhee reassured her, “I got a text from my boss saying I need to come into work early, and something seems a little weird to me so I wanted to let Irina know. I wasn’t expecting you to still be on shift. Is everything alright?” 

Tanya nodded. “Irina has a personal matter to attend to, so I offered to take her day shift for her, if that is alright with you?” 

Minhee frowned. “Won’t you be tired though if you were awake all last night?” 

“I will be fine,” Tanya reassured her. Minhee stared at her for a moment, before shaking her head. 

“No, I want you to take a nap.” 

“W-What? Miss Choi, I’m on shift-” 

“And we’re in my apartment right now, with nothing going on. Just take a quick nap, it’s gonna take me half an hour to get ready anyways. I’ll wake you up when we’re about to leave.” 

Tanya seemed to consider it for a moment, before shaking her head. “Miss Choi, I can’t do that in good conscious.” 

“Tanya,” Minhee said, stepping towards the bodyguard, “I fought off a CCG agent myself last week while on an outing with one of my friends. If anything happens, I can handle myself until you wake up,” Minhee insisted. “Also, since you’re guarding me, that makes me your boss. So this is an order. Take a nap. I won’t tell Jumin.” 

Tanya looked like she wanted to argue, but eventually sighed and shook her head. “Alright Miss Choi.” 

Minhee smiled at her, and turned around to walk back into her bedroom so she could get ready. She took a shower and blow dried her hair, and was torn between going extra slowly to let Tanya sleep more, and going quickly so she could find out what Choyeon needed from her. These opposing options ended up making her go at her normal speed, and it was about thirty minutes later that she woke Tanya up to leave. 

Together, the two women boarded the train to her office building. It was about 9 am by the time they arrived, and Minhee hadn’t received anymore texts from Choyeon which made her think the issue wasn’t as serious as she had thought it was. 

When she walked into Choyeon’s office and came face to face with three CCG agents, that’s when she realized it was definitely as serious as she had thought it was. 

“Minhee, please sit down,” Choyeon said, gesturing to the open chair in front of her desk. Minhee looked around the room and locked eyes with one of the CCG agents, and her heart stuttered when she realized it was none other than Investigator Vanderwood from the other night. 

Their arm was in a sling beneath their jacket, and Minhee remembered their scream from when Jaehee had stabbed them in the shoulder. She looked away from them quickly as she took her seat. 

“What’s this about?” She asked, trying not to let her voice waver. 

“I’m sorry Minhee, but I was forced to reveal your identity as the author of the articles to them,” Choyeon explained, her hands folded in front of her on her desk. “The public still isn’t aware, but the investigators… want to take you in for questioning.” 

Minhee’s head whipped back towards Vanderwood. “That’s not legal. I have reporter’s privilege in interviewing my subjects. You can’t force me to reveal their identities to you.” 

“That’s not what we’re trying to do here,” Vanderwood snapped back, “we know full well about that damn reporter’s privilege law. We’re not bringing you in for questioning about that. We’re bringing you in for questioning on suspect of you _being_ a ghoul.” 

She felt the blood drain from her face. “W-What? I’m not a ghoul! I’m a human!” 

“Oh really?” Vanderwood asked, leaning in close, “then how would a mere human gain special access to multiple ghouls for interviews? CCG agents have a hard enough time finding ghouls with near unlimited resources. How would an independent journalist do what an entire government agency can’t?” 

“Oh, I dunno, maybe because I’m not trying to murder them just for existing!” Minhee spat as she pushed herself to her feet so she could stand eye to eye with Vanderwood. Well, as close as eye to eye as she could get considering they had almost a full foot on her in terms of height. 

“It’s not murder if it’s not a person, and despite what you seem to believe, ghouls are not people!” 

“How would you know? All you and your agency has ever done is treat them like animals!” 

“ _ENOUGH!_ ” Choyeon’s voice boomed throughout the room, making Vanderwood and Minhee both fall silent. 

Choyeon took a deep breath and settled back into her seat. “Minhee, I will not tolerate you showing this kind of disrespect to a CCG agent in my office. Investigator Vanderwood, I expect the CCG to maintain an air of professionalism when dealing with situations like this, not argue with suspects like children. Please, I do have other employees that are trying to work.” 

Minhee flushed and stared at her shoes. “You’re right. I’m deeply sorry about my inappropriate behavior, Boss,” she apologized, bowing to the woman. 

“I apologize as well. We will take Miss Choi in for questioning, and if she is innocent, we will release her immediately. We will not cause further disturbance to your office,” Vanderwood said, also bowing. “Miss Choi, shall we head out?” 

Minhee nodded, sending one last glance back to Choyeon before exiting the office. 

Tanya, who had been waiting by Minhee’s desk, started towards her when she exited the office. But when she saw the CCG agents surrounding her, she froze. 

“Tanya, it’s okay, they just want to take me in for questioning,” Minhee reassured her. 

“Who is this?” Another investigator, an older woman who stood on Minhee’s right, asked. 

“She’s my bodyguard,” Minhee explained. 

Vanderwood narrowed their eyes at Tanya, before turning to the woman investigator. “We’ll bring her as well. We don’t need to question her though, we’ll just run a blood test. How does that sound First Class Investigator Yoon?” 

The woman, Investigator Yoon apparently, nodded. “Sounds perfectly fine to me, Associate Special Class Vanderwood.” She turned to the third investigator, a woman close to Minhee’s age. “Rank 2 Investigator Hwang, please escort the bodyguard.” 

Investigator Hwang nodded, and Tanya stepped up beside her. Minhee couldn’t thank the powers above enough for letting this just so happen be the day that Tanya took Irina’s shift. 

Everyone in the office stared at Minhee as they made their way through the rows of desks. She felt their eyes boring into her, all asking the same question of, ‘is it true? Is she a ghoul?’ The rumors would be flying when she got back, but Minhee couldn’t really care less. She was just more worried about how the RFA would react when they found out she had gotten taken in by the CCG. She just had to trust Tanya would inform Jumin that everything was fine. 

The investigators led them through the office building and into the parking garage where there was a black van waiting. Hwang climbed into the driver's seat, with Vanderwood sitting in the front beside her, while Investigator Yoon sat in the back with Minhee and Tanya.

Minhee noticed the briefcase sitting by Yoon’s feet, and knew the woman wouldn’t hesitate to use it i she suspected anything about Minhee. 

The drive to CCG headquarters (blessedly) didn’t take very long. Minhee had never realized just how close her office building was to headquarters, even though she had passed the building several times before. 

As they approached the marble monolith of a building, the words ‘Commission of Counter Ghoul’ emblazoned across the top, Minhee glanced to Tanya, who gave her a reassuring smile. It would be fine. They would run a blood test on both of them, see they were both human, and they would leave. It would be easy. 

More than anything, Minhee was worried about Vanderwood. Specifically, if they recognized her as Butterfly. She knew that the entire purpose of the masks was to conceal her identity, but it didn’t mean it was foolproof. 

She was being paranoid. She knew it. But paranoia didn’t listen to logic, and the worry gnawed away at her insides and made her stomach feel like it was full of worms. 

Hwang drove the car into the parking garage next to the building, scanning her ID card to open the gate and allow them inside. She pulled into the parking garage and parked in a spot marked, ‘Ghoul Investigator Only’. 

They all climbed out of the van and Vanderwood led them through the garage and into the main building. And honestly? Minhee wasn’t sure what she expected CCG Headquarters to look like, bt she knew she hadn’t expected it to just… look like a normal office. 

While it was indeed very opulent, with marble walls and high ceilings, there was no indication as to what they did here. She wasn’t sure if she had thought they’d put quinque’s on the wall or photos from great ghoul battles or whatever, but if she had just seen photos of this place without being told what it was, she never would’ve guessed it was the CCG. 

Vanderwood led them down a long hallway, Yoon staying on Minhee’s right, and Hwang staying with Tanya behind them. They stepped into an elevator, and Vanderwood pressed the 4th floor button. 

Elevator music played. No one spoke. It was awkward. 

When they got out on the 4th floor, Minhee saw this floor was much less opulent than the 1st floor. Unlike the 1st floor, this one didn’t have marble walls or high ceilings, but instead just plain white walls, no windows, and normal sized ceilings. 

A few walks down some hallways with twists and turns later, and Vanderwood stopped in front of a metal door. “First Class Yoon, I will interrogate Miss Choi here. You take the bodyguard for blood testing.” 

Yoon nodded and she and Tanya walked off, but when Hwang went to follow, Vanderwood held a hand up. 

“Hwang, you’re staying with me. You’re going to see how we conduct these interrogations.” 

Hwang nodded, and Vanderwood opened the door while gesturing for Minhee to step inside. Minhee carefully made her way in, and Vanderwood shut the door behind her, leaving her alone. 

It was about as stereotypical of an interrogation room as you could get. Dark walls, tile floors, long double-sided window sitting in front of a metal table with a single chair. Minhee felt as if she had just stepped into a movie. 

Minhee stood there for a few minutes, wondering what to do, when the door opened again and Vanderwood stepped inside. 

“Miss Choi, take a seat,” they said, pointing to the chair. Minhee did as they said, and folded her hands on the table in front of her to hide her shaking. 

“So for the record, please state your name and occupation.” 

Minhee sighed. Here she goes. 

“My name is Choi Minhee, and I’m a journalist with _The Moon and Sun_.” 

“And are you the author of the article series, _Monsters or People? Interviews with Ghouls_?” 

“Yes, I am.” 

“Thank you. Now as we both know, I can’t ask you who your subjects are, but I’m going to ask you some questions about how you found your subjects. You don’t have to give me any identifying details, I just need to determine that you did not find them in ways that only a ghoul could.” 

Minhee furrowed her brows. “Can’t you just do a blood test on me and call it a day?” 

“We just like to be thorough, Miss Choi,” Vanderwood said, their voice almost a snap. “So, how did you find your subjects?” 

This was bullshit and Minhee knew it. They just wanted to scare her. 

“I received an anonymous tip,” Minhee answered. “One day I received a text from an unknown number that was a tip on where to find ghouls, and sure enough I found some there.” 

Vanderwood didn’t seem to like that answer. Minhee knew they wanted to ask for her phone so they could trace the number, but it was an ‘anonymous tip’ for a reason. 

“Once you found these ghouls, how did you gain their trust, and convince them not to kill you?” 

“Well they didn’t want to kill me because of the anonymous tip that led me to them, because that meant an outsider knew about them, and I was their only point of contact with this unknown person. So they kept me under surveillance for a while, and as I got to know them they realized I wasn’t going to turn them in, so they came to trust me.” 

Vanderwood narrowed their eyes. “Alright, fine. I suppose that’s plausible. I just have one more question then before we perform the blood test.” 

“Go for it.” 

“There’s been a new ghoul on our radar recently. She appeared not too long ago, in the East Sector,” Minhee clenched her jaw, “we at the CCG call her Butterfly.” 

They knew. Minhee could see it in their eyes. They knew she was Butterfly. 

“I told you, Investigator, I’m not giving any information on specific ghouls,” Minhee said, working to keep her voice level. 

“Understandable and respectable given your position. I just thought it would be interesting to bring up. Because not only did she appear around the same time your boss told us you requested to do this article, but she also has a similar height and build to you, and similar hair.” 

They put their hand not in a sling on the table, and leaned close to Minhee’s face. “Do you want to know the most interesting part though? She doesn’t use her kagune. Instead she uses an investigator’s quinque. And while this isn’t completely unheard of for a ghoul, as sometimes ghouls can’t use their kagune for various reasons, it’s still unusual.” Minhee struggled to keep her breathing even with Vanderwood’s face only inches from hers. Her eyes flitted to their injured shoulder, before going back to their face. 

“I’m not giving information on specific ghouls,” Minhee repeated, locking eyes with Vanderwood.

Vanderwood was silent, before letting out a low laugh. “Alright,” they said, standing up straight again, “that’s all I had to ask. We at the CCG appreciate your cooperation, now I’ll have First Class Yoon escort you to your blood test.” 

The door opened, and Yoon stepped inside the room. Minhee stood up, hands shaking as she followed the older woman out of the room. Before she left, she glanced back to Vanderwood, and a small smile quirked the corners of their lips.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Choi,” Vanderwood said. Minhee nodded, and let Yoon lead her out of the room. 

Hwang came into the room after Minhee and Yoon left. She approached Vanderwood, where they were still staring at the door. 

“There is no doubt in my mind that Choi Minhee is Butterfly,” Vanderwood said calmly. 

“So she is a ghoul?” Hwang asked. 

Vanderwood shook their head. “No, she’s human. But she’s definitely the Butterfly ghoul alright.” 

“I’m confused, Associate Special Class,” Hwang said, “if she’s a human, does that mean she’s just pretending to be a ghoul? And how do you know she’s Butterfly then? Do you really think a human journalist could take a trained ghoul investigator in a fight?” 

“Well, her height, build, and hair is the same as Butterfly’s, and she also started her article not too long before Butterfly’s first appearance. However, the thing that really sold it for me was that when I was discussing Butterfly with her, she glanced at my injured shoulder. I never told her where I got this injury from. There was no reason for her to connect Butterfly to my shoulder, unless she knew Butterfly was involved.” 

“She could just happen to know Butterfly,” Hwang pointed out. 

“Perhaps,” Vanderwood said, “but something you will learn, Rank 2 Hwang, is that over the years as an investigator you will start to gain a special… sense when it comes to sniffing out ghouls. You can just tell sometimes. And trust me, that girl is definitely Butterfly. It’s just a matter of proving it.”

☽☾

A few blood tests and about two hours later, Minhee had paper certification proving she was not a ghoul. Tanya and her walked out of the CCG headquarters, and rather than going back to Minhee’s office, both women decided it was best to go straight to the RFA cafe so they could reassure everyone everything was okay.

They decided to take an uber because it was faster. The entire ride to the cafe, Minhee couldn’t stop thinking about the small, almost imperceptible smile on Vanderwood’s face when they said goodbye to her. They couldn’t know she was Butterfly. Butterfly was a ghoul according to the CCG’s database, and Minhee had paperwork proving she wasn’t. She was just being paranoid again. 

Right? 

After they hopped out of the uber, they entered the RFA cafe together, and Minhee was practically tackled by Zen as soon as she stepped in the door. 

“Minhee!” Zen cried as he wrapped her up in his arms, “Jumin told us what happened and we were so worried about you. Are you okay? Did they interrogate you? They didn’t hurt you did they?” Zen asked, patting her arms as he looked her up and down. 

“I’m fine, Zen. They just ran a blood test and questioned me on some stuff,” Minhee reassured him. 

“What kind of stuff did they ask you?” Yoosung asked, popping up beside Zen. Minhee wondered why he wasn’t behind the counter, when she realized the entire cafe was empty save for her, Tanya, and the entire RFA minus V. 

“Did you guys close the cafe?” Minhee asked, looking to Jumin. 

“When Tanya informed me of the situation, that a member of the RFA had been taken in for CCG questioning, it seemed to be as much of an emergency as any. So, after calling V, we agreed to close the cafe for the day,” Jumin explained, folding his hands in front of him. 

Minhee blinked. Jumin had referred to her as a member of the RFA. Not an associate of the RFA. Not someone who knew their identities and could compromise them. A member. 

Despite all the stress she had gone through that day, she couldn’t deny the feeling of warmth that had spread in her chest at that. 

“Oh… I feel bad that you guys felt you had to close the cafe for me,” Minhee muttered. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, Minhee!” Jaehee exclaimed suddenly, rushing forward to take Minhee’s hands in her own, “we’ve all been worried sick about you.” 

“The CCG has done some fucked up shit, so it’s not like we had no reason to be concerned,” Seven pointed out, “but not to change the subject, but I’m curious about what Yoosung asked. What kind of stuff did they question you about?”

“Uh, can we sit down for this?” Minhee asked. Everyone looked around, as if just now realizing they were still crowding the entrance of the cafe, and dispersed to a small section of tables near a sunny window. 

Jaehee and Yoosung made lattes for everyone. The sweet warmth acted as a balm for her sore nerves, washing through her almost like a hug. Jaehee sat beside her, rubbing her shoulder soothingly as she sipped at her drink. It took so much of Minhee’s willpower not to lean over and rest her head on Jaehee’s shoulder. 

After she had settled herself, and most of the RFA seemed calm again, Minhee began to repeat her experience that day. 

“I’m sure Tanya has already informed you of what happened at my office earlier today?” She asked. Everyone nodded. “Well once we got to the CCG and were separated, the investigator I was with seated me in a room and they started asking me basic questions. Like, what my name was, where I worked, baseline stuff. Then I told them I wasn’t going to reveal the identities of my interview subjects, and they said they weren’t going to ask about that. Instead they asked how I found you guys, and then how I gained your trust.” 

“What did you tell them?” Zen asked. 

Minhee shrugged. “I just said a really vague version of the truth. I received an anonymous tip from an unknown number, and that you guys didn’t want to have someone knowing who you were telling random reporters where to find you so you kept me alive since I was the only connection you had to the unknown number. Then as time went on, we all just got closer and you guys began to trust me.” 

“Was that it?” Jumin questioned, raising an eyebrow at Minhee. 

Sucking in a breath, Minhee looked down at her coffee. Did she want to tell them about Vanderwood’s suspicion of her being Butterfly? 

She looked to Jaehee, who gave her a kind smile. She couldn’t lie to them about this. 

“Yeah, they asked me one more thing,” she paused and took a shaky breath, “they showed me a picture of Butterfly, and started telling me stuff about her and seeing if I reacted.” 

“And what did you say?” Yoosung had wide eyes as he leaned over the table to Minhee. Seven put a hand on his shoulder to gently push him back down into his seat. 

“...I said I wasn’t going to give any information on specific ghouls.” The group sighed, and Minhee wasn’t sure if it was in exhaustion or relief. It was quiet for a moment, before Jumin pushed himself out of his chair and to his feet, and began pacing around the cafe. Jaehee voiced the groups confusion. 

“Jumin?” 

“This is problematic for us,” Jumin said, scratching his chin as he walked, “although I’m sure they do not have solid evidence right now, if they are to gain solid proof that Minhee is the Butterfly ghoul, and is thus engaging in criminal activity, the reporter's privilege that protects the identities of those she interviews will become void, and they will investigate those she’s around to find out exactly who her interviewees are-” 

“-and that means we’re all in danger,” Zen finished, resting his head on the table. 

A silence fell over the group. This was bad. 

“What… what can we do to make sure they don’t get the needed evidence?” Yoosung asked, looking up from his own empty cup of coffee. 

“I mean, maybe if Minhee stops going out with us as Butterfly?” Seven suggested. Minhee tried not to wince at that. She relished each and every chance she got to explore ghoul life with her friends, and not to mention now that she knew how to fight, she could even help defend her friends from CCG investigators. 

The idea of something bad happening to any of them—Jaehee, Zen, Yoosung, Seven, hell even Jumin—made her feel sick to her stomach. 

“That could work, but it would be suspicious for Butterfly to simply disappear as soon as the CCG brings Minhee in for questioning,” Jaehee pointed out. 

“Shit,” Minhee muttered. 

Silence again. 

Then,

“...what if Butterfly died?” 

Everyone’s heads shot up to look at Yoosung, who was fiddling with his fingers in his lap. 

“Uh, please tell me you don’t mean me like, actually dying or anything-” 

“No no of course not!” Yoosung exclaims, cutting her off, “I meant like, we can fake it. Next time we have a run in with doves or whatever, someone can splash some fake blood on Minhee and then one of us carries her off and then we leave her mask somewhere that investigators can easily find. Make them think Butterfly died. Then we just get Minhee a new mask and have her like, wear a wig next time she comes out with us so they think it’s a different ghoul.” 

“Yoosung…” Seven started, staring at Yoosung with wide eyes, “that’s actually a really good idea.” 

Yoosung perked up, a large smile growing on his face. “Really?” 

“Yeah, I think that could actually work!” Zen said, reaching over to slap Yoosung on the shoulder. 

“While we would have to be careful with timing, and practice Minhee’s fake injury in order to ensure it doesn’t looked staged, I do think this is indeed doable,” Jaehee told them all. She looked up to Jumin. “What do you think?” 

Jumin looked at Jaehee, and then at Minhee for a moment, before sighing. “While it is risky, I suppose it is plausible.” 

“When do you guys think we should do it?” Minhee asked. 

Jaehee hummed. “We should wait at least a few weeks. Because if Butterfly ‘dies’ so soon after your interrogation that might also be suspicious. We can discuss it next time we decide to all go out.” 

“I’m in agreement with this plan, and I’m glad we got that settled. Now, is there anything else that needs to be discussed right now? I need to get back to work,” Jumin asked, looking at each of the members. 

Zen scoffed. “You jerk. Minhee and Tanya were interrogated by the CCG and it probably scared the shit out of them both, and all you can think about is work!” 

“Actually, I was once tied up in a Russian crime lord’s basement being interrogated at knifepoint, so today was really no issue for me,” Tanya pointed out. 

Everyone fell silent at that as all eyes turned to her. She just shrugged. 

Coughing, Zen corrected himself, “it probably scared the shit out of Minhee.” 

Minhee snorted. “Thank you for the concern, Zen, but I’m fine. Like I said, I feel bad you guys even shut down the cafe for me. I literally don’t care if Jumin needs to go back to work.”

Jumin gave Zen a look that said, _see? I told you so,_ before he brushed off his suit jacket and stepped to the door. “I will be seeing you all soon. Call me if anything happens.” And with that, Jumin left the cafe where Driver Kim was already waiting out front. 

“Minhee, are you planning on returning to work today?” Jaehee asked, resting her hand on Minhee’s arm. 

“No, I don’t think so. I’m sure my boss won’t mind. I just don’t want to deal with my whole office crowding me and asking me what happened,” Minhee explained. 

“Then in that case,” Zen began, leaning in close to Minhee, “do you wanna spar? I’ve heard about your practice fighting with Jaehee and Seven, but I kinda wanna see it for myself.” 

Minhee rolled her eyes. “Alright, but Jaehee still kicks my ass so don’t get your hopes up,” she says, liking the idea of drowning her worried thoughts by working out. “Jaehee, do you want to join us? 

“You know, I think I will,” Jaehee picked up her coffee and finished it, keeping it in her hand as she pushed herself to her feet. “Just let me clean up these cups.” 

“Oh, I can help with that!” Minhee said, jumping to pick up the cups for her. Jaehee smiled at her and the two women made their way to the kitchen to rinse out everyone’s coffee cups. 

Zen turned to Yoosung and Seven, who were both on their phones. “Do you two wanna join us? We could have a whole fight session.” 

Yoosung looked to Seven, and when Seven shook his head, Yoosung shook his head at Zen. “Sorry Zen, a new episode of this anime Seven and I like came out today so we’re gonna go to my place to watch that,” he explained. 

“You two hang out a lot,” Zen commented, raising an eyebrow at the boys. 

“That’s ‘cause Yoosungie’s my best friend!” Seven shouted gleefully, wrapping his arms around the blond. Yoosung squawked and tried to push Seven off of him, and Seven just laughed and leaned further onto the boy. After a moment, Yoosung sighed and patted Seven’s head, and Zen snorted. 

“Well feel free to come back here if you change your mind. I’ll happily kick Seven’s ass for you, Yoosung,” Zen said, turning and walking through the ‘staff only’ door, leaving Yoosung and Seven alone. 

“You ready to yeet on out of here?” Seven asked. 

“Hell yeah!” Yoosung answered, jumping to his feet as he and Seven made their way out of the cafe together. 

The ride back to Yoosung’s place was relatively normal, besides Yoosung screaming every time Seven sped through a yellow light. Yoosung had asked Seven multiple times how he’d never gotten a ticket despite always speeding, and Seven would always wink and tell him that was a God secret. Truth is, he had gotten plenty of speeding tickets, he would always just hack the police database afterwards and erase the ticket from his record. Thanks digital age. 

When they got to Yoosung’s on campus apartment, Seven parked his car and the two of them made their way into the dorm building. Normally they would just take the stairs, but Yoosung was feeling tired after the stress of the day, and Seven didn’t mind waiting for the elevator. So together they stood in front of the elevator, both laughing as Seven showed Yoosung a meme on his phone. 

Then, 

“Yoosung?” 

Turning around, Seven saw Yoosung’s eyes widen as three college students walked towards them. 

“Oh! Um, hey guys!” The three students—a boy and two girls—were smiling brightly as they walked up towards Seven and Yoosung. One of the girls rushed forward and Seven tensed, but then he saw her wrap her arms around Yoosung and hug him tightly and Seven relaxed. 

“It’s been so long since we’ve seen you! We’ve been so worried,” the girl said, having to stand on her tiptoes to hug him because she was so short. 

“I’m sorry, Sunhee. I’ve just been really busy since that whole mess happened,” Yoosung told her, bending down to help her hug him. Sunhee let go after a moment, going to stand beside her other two friends. 

“That’s okay, Yoosung. We’ve just been really concerned since you just disappeared off the face of the Earth,” the other girl said. 

Yoosung ran a hand through his hair and took a breath. “I know. I should’ve texted one of you guys.” He looked up for a moment and saw Seven’s confused expression, and gasped. “Oh shit! I didn’t even introduce you guys. Everyone, this is my friend Seven. Seven, these are my friends Sunhee,” he pointed to the small girl, “Mihi,” he pointed to the other girl, “and Joon,” he finished, pointing at the guy. 

“Your name is Seven?”Joon asked, frowning. 

“It’s just a nickname,” Seven said in way of explanation, “my name’s actually Luciel.” The three made noises of understanding and nodded. 

The elevator behind them dinged, and Seven turned around to get on. 

“Uh, we gotta get going,” Yoosung awkwardly explained as he stepped backwards into the elevator, “I’ll text you guys though! We should hang out soon!” 

“Come over to my dorm! We’ll play some LOLOL!” Joon shouted just as the elevator doors slid shut. 

Yoosung sighed and fell against the wall of the elevator. He brought his hands up to his face and pulled his eyepatch off, and pressed his hands into his eyes. 

“God, I haven’t seen those guys in months,” he groaned. 

“Why did you stop talking to them?” Seven asked, the elevator pinging as it passed each floor. 

“You know! It was just too tough with… this,” he said, opening his eyes and pointing to his one eye that was currently red and black. 

Seven sighed. “Yeah, I get that.” 

The elevator dinged again, indicating they were at their floor. Yoosung hurriedly pulled his eyepatch back on, and the two stepped out and made their way to Yoosung’s apartment. Once they got inside though, Yoosung ripped the eyepatch off again once more like it had burned him, and flung it to the side as he collapsed onto his couch. 

Seven collapsed beside him, groaning as he stretched out his back and heard the joints pop. 

“God, I should really get one of those fancy-shmancy computer chairs. Maybe then my back won’t snap crackle pop like rice krispies!” 

Yoosung gave him a really confused look. “What’s rice krispies?” 

“It’s an American food,” Seven explained with a wave of his hand, “anyway you ready to watch loli vore?” 

Yoosung didn’t look amused. “Why am I friends with you again?” 

“Because God 707 is the most handsome, funny, wonderful guy ever?” Seven laid himself across Yoosung’s lap with a hand to his head like an 18th century women who just fainted. 

“Nah it’s because you have a car,” Yoosung said, a shit-eating grin spread across his face. 

“Oh! I’m so wounded!” Seven shouted, grabbing his heart, “my cutie Yoosung is so mean to me! If only he loved me!” 

“Sorry, my one true love is LOLOL,” Yoosung said, smirking down at Seven in his lap. 

“Well, I _am_ the number one player in LOLOL,” Seven bragged. 

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Yoosung groaned as he rolled his eyes. Seven shifted up so he was sitting next to Yoosung instead of laying in his lap. 

“It’s okay, you’ll always be by my side at number two,” Seven said, poking Yoosung’s nose. Yoosung frowned and swatted his hand away, and Seven laughed as he moved back to his own side of the couch. “You ready to start the episode?” 

Yoosung nodded eagerly, and was basically bouncing up and down in his seat as Seven pulled his laptop out and got the episode up. The title card for _The Promised Neverland_ popped up, and both boys relaxed into the couch as they started watching the episode. 

As they watched, Seven became hyper aware of the space between himself and Yoosung. Or rather, the lack thereof. Because Yoosung was pressing himself right against Seven’s side, and he gets that the laptop screen is smaller than an actual TV but was that really all it was? 

Then, Yoosung rested his head on Seven’s shoulder, and Seven barely caught what the latter half of the entire episode is about. He couldn’t do this. Couldn’t let himself get closely involved with anyone. The RFA is already a huge risk in his life, thanks to the unpredictability of his job and his… hobbies. If he brought Yoosung any further in than he already is, it would just be bad for the both of them. 

Seven didn't tell him to move though, and so Yoosung didn’t. After the episode was over, Yoosung talked excitedly about how amazing it was and his theories for the next one. Seven managed to half-respond with his own ideas about the episode, picking up enough of what he missed from Yoosung’s excited blabbering. 

Eventually, Seven’s mind wandered again, and he thought back to that encounter outside the elevator. He remembered the way in which Yoosung tensed up at the appearance of his friends, and how genuinely worried each of the three kids seemed about the blond. 

“You’re not actually going to text your friends, are you?” Seven asked. Yoosung, who had now shifted back to his own side of the couch, whipped his head towards Seven with a confused expression. It’s understandable, given they were in the middle of a conversation about the new _Fruit Baskets_ remake and Seven just suddenly switched things in a full 360, but he stood by his question, really curious. 

“You mean Joon, Sunhee, and Mihi?” He asked, as if Seven had met any of Yoosung’s other friends. 

“Yes, the ones outside the elevator today.” 

Yoosung stared at Seven for a moment, before sighing and letting his gaze drop to the floor. “...yeah. I’m not planning on talking to them.” 

“Why not?” Yoosung looked at Seven like he’s stupid. 

“Because I don’t want to get them involved in the giant fucking mess that is my life right now? Because I don’t want to put them in danger? Because if they knew what I was they’d probably try to kill me? I dunno, Seven. You tell me. You’re the one who told me when I first came to the RFA Cafe that humans and ghouls can’t be friends and that I was taking an unnecessary risk,” Yoosung said, crossing his arms over his chest as he spoke. 

Seven looked down at the floor, remembering that he did indeed say that to Yoosung. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I just don’t want you to isolate yourself. It’s not a good way to live.” 

“I’m not isolating myself though. I have you and the rest of the RFA,” Yoosung pointed out. 

“Yeah, just,” Seven scratched the back of his neck, wondering how he got himself into this mess of a conversation, “I just worry about you, Yoosung. You’re dealing with so much more than the rest of us, and you’re my best friend so I just want to make sure you’re doing okay.” 

Yoosung’s face softened at that, and he scooted back over to Seven’s side. “I… I know. Thank you, Luciel. But I’m doing okay. Really,” he glanced up and met Seven’s eyes, “I worry about you too, though. Are you okay?” 

Normally, Seven would make a joke about how he, Hacker God 707 was always fantastic, but he just couldn’t find it in himself this time. 

So instead, he said, “I’m better than I was doing.” 

When Seven looked up to meet Yoosung’s eyes, he saw a small smile on Yoosung’s face. 

“I’m glad you’re doing better,” was all he said in response. He didn’t push for what changed, or for how he was worse off before, and for that Seven was grateful. 

Seven was grateful for a lot of things involving Yoosung. 

And though it may be a bad idea, and might just be putting them at more risk than they already are, Seven was grateful to have Yoosung as his friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, I want everyone to know that at one point in this chapter I literally had Yoosung ask if he and Seven could go get fried wings because I was so tired I literally forgot what the entire premise of this fic was and had to go back and rewrite it five minutes later when I realized my mistake
> 
> so yeah. that exhaustion is thanks to the fact that I'm taking all morning classes this quarter! I'm dying y'all! :D
> 
> but BESIDES THAT I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, we're getting very close to the inciting thing that starts act 2 and it's gonna be wild ;) 
> 
> make sure to leave a comment if you liked this! all your lovely comments give me the motivation to keep writing this lol
> 
> shoot me a message on tumblr if you want!  
> cactusskiddo.tumblr.com


	11. Unzip Your Skin And Let Me Have A See

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhee finally gets her interview with Yoosung

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the wait on this chapter, I've been battling illness the past few weeks, and also I started a second fic! It only has one chapter so far, but if you guys are here for the yooseven, check out my fic 'I can tell just what you want'! It's a college au and much happier and less violent than this fic lol
> 
> anyway, I have a warning for this chapter
> 
> There are a few graphic descriptions of physical child abuse in this chapter as part of a flashback. The entire flashback is italicized, so you should be able to skip it if that's a trigger for you! I will provide a summary in the end chapter notes for those who want to skip it! Stay safe loves!
> 
> Anyway I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! The title for this one comes from the song 'Human' by Dodie!

**V:** Hello Minhee, I hope I’m not bothering you. I just wanted to check in and make sure everything was alright after yesterday? I was informed you were taken into CCG custody. 

**Minhee:** Aw thanks V! Everything’s fine, they just asked me some questions and ran a blood test on me

 **V:** Jumin also told me they asked you about the Butterfly ghoul?

 **Minhee:** Yeah, they did

 **Minhee:** Idk how I know, but I’m like 99% certain the investigator who questioned me knows I’m Butterfly

 **V:** That is a problem indeed.

 **Minhee:** Did you hear about the plan Yoosung suggested though?

 **V:** Yes, I did. I think it’s our only viable solution at this point. I’ll be back from my business trip in a week. We can discuss it more then. Until then, I would prefer it if you were to refrain from using the Butterfly mask. 

**Minhee:** I understand. I think I’ll just avoid joining the RFA on any outings until you get back just to be safe 

**V:** Thank you for understanding. I’ll try to be back soon. Until then, please stay safe. 

**Minhee:** Will do, V! 

**:V:** Also thank you for sending me a rough draft of your interview with Jumin. I especially appreciated the part where Jumin mentioned our escapades as teenagers. 

**Minhee:** Lol yeah, I couldn’t get him to give me any specific stories though!

 **V:** Hmm, that’s just because he’s embarrassed I think. 

**V:** I’ll be sure to tell you some stories from our boarding school days when I get back. 

**Minhee:** Omg yes please

 **V:** I must be going now. I hope to talk to you soon. 

**Minhee:** Take care!

☽☾

The sun was setting by the time Minhee made it to the RFA Cafe. The sky outside was a painting of deep reds and oranges, looking like someone had set the air itself on fire. Everything in the cafe was bathed in a golden light, from the furniture to the customers to the coffee itself.

Only a few patrons remained as closing time drew near. A few regulars Minhee recognized from how often she frequented the cafe now. One of them waved at her as she walked in and she waved back. She saw Yoosung working behind the counter, his bleached hair glowing in the light of the sunset as he washed a cup in the sink. 

It had been a few days since the interrogation, and the day had finally come for Yoosung’s interview. For the first time since starting these interviews, Minhee actually felt nervous. She had heard so many vague things about Yoosung, and there were so many peculiarities about him that set him apart from the others in the RFA. She was dying to know just why he was so different from the others, but something in her gut told her she wasn’t going to like the answer. 

But still, she had an interview to do, so she wasn’t going to let any nerves stand in her way from remaining as professional as possible. 

“Hi Yoosung!” Minhee greeted as she walked up to the counter. 

“Oh! Minhee, you’re here!” Yoosung exclaimed, his head whipping up from where he’d been staring at the cup in his hands. “I thought our interview wasn’t scheduled till after closing?” 

“It is,” Minhee reassured him, “I just got here early. But don’t worry, I can work on other stuff till closing time.” 

Yoosung breathed a sigh of relief. “Alright. I promise it won’t be long.” 

“No worries. Can I get a latte though?” 

“Of course!” Yoosung rushed to the coffee machines to make her latte, and she grinned before going to sit at her usual table. As per usual, Irina was following close behind, and sat at her own table a little bit away. 

One of these days, Minhee was going to get Irina to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee with her. 

She pulled out her laptop and resumed editing her interview with Jumin, which was the majority of what she’d been doing that day. Yoosung came over with her favorite latte as usual, and she thanked him before returning to her work. 

This was her favorite routine. Coming by the cafe after work, and getting a coffee while working on her favorite project. It was odd to think that there was a time where this wasn’t the norm. It had been a few months since she had first met the RFA, but now she couldn’t imagine her life without them in it. 

After a while of editing her interview, Minhee decided to take a break. She opened up her favored news site and began scrolling through, skimming the headlines for anything interesting. 

Her eyes caught on something rather quickly. 

**Man and Woman Found Dead in Their Home, Suspected Ghoul Attack**

Opening up the article, Minhee began to read through it. 

_Married couple Oh Taeyoung and Oh Jinju were found dead outside their apartment late Thursday evening by authorities after another resident of the apartment building came across their bodies in the hallway. Their two children, 8 and 10 years old, were found inside the apartment, but were unharmed. According to the Seoul police, the CCG were called immediately upon witnessing the bodies, due to the nature of the victim’s injuries._

_The children were questioned and checked for injuries, and were released to another family member that same evening. The children were reportedly found locked in their rooms, and claimed to not have heard anything amiss._

_When checked for injuries, the children were found to have severe bruising on their bodies, but both claimed this was not from the attacker, but rather their parents. The family member the children were released to reportedly had no knowledge of the abuse happening in the home._

_CCG Associate Special Class Agent Vanderwood was present on the scene, and when questioned by reporters, they said,_

_“The CCG is doing everything it can to identify the ghoul responsible for this attack and bring them to justice.” The Associate Special Class offered no further comment than that._

_We will be updating this story as it progresses._

“Hey MC,” a voice said in front of her, making Minhee jump. 

“Shit! Seven, you startled me,” Minhee said, closing her laptop as Seven slid into the seat across from her. 

“Sorry ‘bout that,” Seven apologized, leaning back into his seat and stretching his arms above his head, “were you working? If so I’ll leave, I don’t wanna distract you from your stuff.” 

Minhee shook her head. “Nah, I was just reading a news article on a ghoul attack that happened last night.” 

Seven raised his eyebrows at that. “Ghoul attack? Where?” 

“North Sector I think,” Minhee said, scratching her chin as she opened her laptop back up, “a couple named Oh Taeyoung and Jinju.” 

Something unreadable flashed in Seven’s eyes at that. 

“Hmm, interesting. Was it just like a cut and dry ghoul attack?” He asked. 

“No, that’s the weird part,” Minhee said, frowning as she looked over the article again, “they were killed outside their apartment, with their two kids inside. Police found the kids locked in their rooms. Neither of them had any clue what had happened.” She sighed and pushed her bangs back. “I know I should probably feel bad but, like, apparently police found bruises on the kids that the kids said their parents gave them, not the ghoul. And honestly I don’t have a lot of sympathy for child abusers.” 

Seven turned his face away at that, looking down to inspect something on his hoodie sleeve. “Huh, that’s intense,” he commented. “Wonder if we’ll run into them. Either way, that’s not what I came over here to talk to you about.” 

Minhee took a sip of her latte. “What is it then, Seven?” 

“You’re waiting to interview Yoosung, yeah?” Minhee nodded. “Just… do me a favor and don’t push him? I know it’s not really my place, but I just know this is probably gonna bring up some sensitive subjects for him so if he doesn’t wanna elaborate on something maybe just… leave it.” 

“Of course I won’t push him,” Minhee replied, “I only talk with my subjects about stuff they’re comfortable sharing. You can ask Jaehee, Zen, or Jumin and they’ll all confirm.” 

Seven nodded at that, before his signature grin snapped back into place. “Yeah, of course. Sorry, I dunno what was up with me,” he pushed himself out of the chair and stood back up, “I’ll let you get back to your article now.” He started to head off to a corner of the cafe Minhee hadn’t noticed him working in. 

“That’s sweet of you though. To want to check for his sake,” Minhee told Seven as he walked away. 

Seven paused in his tracks. 

“That’s me. 707, sweet as can be!” He said, the cheerfulness in his voice fake enough to make Minhee cringe. Then he walked back to the table his laptop was at and sat down, and Minhee watched him pull on his headphones and start coding. 

Seven was acting… off. Minhee had no clue as to why, as she still didn’t have a very good grasp on reading him, but she knew something was weird with him. 

Minhee looked back at her computer and saw the article again, and she remembered Seven’s odd reaction to the murder. 

If she didn’t know any better, she’d think that maybe Seven knew something about the murder of the Oh’s. Maybe he knew the ghoul responsible for it?

Before she could entertain that thought any further though, she heard Yoosung call out from the front. 

“Uh guys, as much as we love having you here it’s closing time,” he announced to the patrons in the shop. The few customers left glanced up from their probably cold lattes, and the sound of squeaking chairs echoed around the cafe as they all pushed themselves to their feet and began to make their way out of the shop. 

It was about another half hour before Yoosung had finally finished the closing routine for the shop. It had been slow in the last half hour, so he had already cleaned mostly everything up. But Minhee reassured him she didn’t mind waiting as he put the finishing touches on everything. 

The sun had long set by the time Yoosung took off his apron and walked over to Minhee’s table. Minhee had gone back to editing her interview with Jumin, needing something to take her mind off the strange news article about the Oh’s. But when Yoosung moved into the chair across from her, she breathed a silent sigh of relief and closed her laptop. 

“Thank you for agreeing to wait till closing to do this,” Yoosung said as he settled into his seat.

“It’s no problem, Yoosung. You’re doing me a huge favor by letting me interview you in the first place, you know that right?” Minhee asked, a teasing lilt to her voice. 

Yoosung chuckled and scratched the back of his head. “Uh, yeah, you’re right I guess,” he folded his hands in front of him and stared for a moment, before looking back up at Minhee, “so um, I’m not really sure how this works.” 

“Don’t worry, just answer the questions I give you in as much or as little detail as you want,” Minhee explained as she set her phone on the counter. She pulled the recording app up, and looked at Yoosung for confirmation before she pressed record. 

“So,” she began, taking a sip of her latte, “let me explain a few things before we begin. You are anonymous. If you slip up and say any information that could reveal your identity, I will edit that out. Whatever you disclose is entirely up to you. If I ask you a question that you deem too personal, feel free to tell me so and I’ll drop it immediately. Do you have any questions?” 

Yoosung blinked. “Wow, you’re really professional about this, Minhee.” 

“It’s my job for a reason,” Minhee laughed, “so I take it you have no questions?” 

“Uh, no not really.” 

“Great, let’s get started then.” Minhee glanced down at her notebook and took a deep breath, squashing down the nerves in her gut. “So to start out with, you are a ghoul, correct?” 

“That’s… yeah, I guess so,” Yoosung replied, fiddling with the edge of his eyepatch, and keeping his visible eye locked on the table. Had he… flinched when she called him a ghoul?

“That’s kind of a weird answer to give to a simple question,” Minhee commented, keeping her tone neutral, “is there a reason for that?” 

Yoosung was quiet. 

“Let’s move on to a different-” 

“No,” Yoosung cut Minhee off. “There is a reason for that. It’s just…” his eye glanced to the recording on Minhee’s phone, before he sighed. “Can you turn the recording off? I promise you can turn it back on, there’s just some stuff I need to explain to you first that I can’t do with that thing on.” 

Minhee frowned, but complied with his request. She turned off the recording, making sure Yoosung could see that it was off, and looked back up at him. “Is that better?” 

Yoosung nodded. He wasn’t looking at her. 

“I… I wasn’t always a ghoul,” he murmured, his voice so soft Minhee wondered if she had heard him right. 

“What do you mean, Yoosung? You weren’t born a ghoul?” 

Yoosung shook his head, his gaze focused on his lap. 

“No, I wasn’t born a ghoul. I was… turned into one.” He looked up, his visible eye locking with Minhee’s. “Up until six months ago, I was a human.” 

Human. 

Yoosung had been human. 

Just like her. 

It felt like a rock had been dropped into Minhee’s gut as all the puzzle pieces rushed into place. 

“That… that’s possible?” She asked as she stared at him with wide eyes, unable to speak above a whisper. 

Yoosung nodded. “I’m sure you’ve noticed how I’m different from the others in the RFA. I can’t stand eating. I’ve gotten better admittedly, but it still makes me feel sick. I don’t have as good of control with my kagune as the others either. That’s because they’ve had most of their lives to practice with them, and I’ve only just started. And then obviously there’s…” he paused, and reached up to pull the eyepatch off, setting it on the table between them. 

Minhee could now see the black and red of his one kakugan. 

He pointed at it, not bothering to put the eyepatch back on considering the shop was closed now and no one was around to see. “I think technically I’m still half human, hence the one eye.” 

“How did this happen? How do you turn into a ghoul?” Minhee asked, unsure if she was speaking with horror or awe in her voice. Maybe it was both. 

Yoosung winced, gaze flitting back down to the table. “It was a freak accident, or at least I think it was,” Yoosung started, messing with his hands in his lap. “I came to this cafe a lot before I even knew it was run by ghouls. It had been my cousin Rika’s, and after she died I just found it comforting to keep coming here and just be surrounded by her memory.” He bit his lip before shaking his head. “Sorry, I’m getting off topic. Anyway, while I was here one day I met a really pretty girl and we hit it off. She asked me out on a date, so we saw a movie and got dinner. But when I was walking her home that was when I found out she was a ghoul, and that _I_ was actually her dinner,” his laugh was bitter as he recalled the memory, and Minhee could see his hands were shaking. 

“She was going to kill me, but before she could there was an accident. We’d been walking by a bunch of construction, and some steel beams came down and fell on both of us. We were both taken to the hospital, and according to the doctor working on both of us she was pretty much dead. So he decided to transplant some of her organs into me in order to save my life. But… they were ghoul organs.” 

This sounded familiar to Minhee for some reason. 

“This was in the news, wasn’t it?” Minhee asked, remembering the lawsuits against the doctor for performing an organ transplant without consent from the family of the donor. 

Yoosung nodded. “Yeah, that’s another reason why I wanted this not to be recorded. All it would take is a quick google search for someone to find out who I am.” 

Minhee bit the inside of her cheek as she nodded. So much about Yoosung made sense now. 

“What happened after that? How long did it take for you to realize you were… different?” 

“It took a few weeks. The nurses at the hospital were worried about me because I was barely eating, but the doctor said I would regain my appetite soon and signed off to send me home. I was getting hungrier and hungrier, but anytime I tried to eat it just tasted awful. When a ghoul gets really hungry, they kinda start to lose it, so that started happening with me.” Yoosung winced at the memory, and took a breath before continuing. 

“V stopped by my apartment eventually to check on me, and kinda found me in the middle of a breakdown. Long story short, he saw my eye, realized I was a ghoul now, and took me to the cafe here and got me some food. That was when I learned that he and the rest of the RFA were ghouls, and so was Rika. V gave me a job here so I could learn about ghoul life and stuff. And since then everyone’s just been helping me adjust.” 

When Yoosung finished speaking, he let out a long sigh and pushed his hair back with his hand. For a moment, Minhe wasn’t sure how to respond to that. It was so much information about the most innocent seeming member of the RFA, and Minhee felt like her world had been turned upside down. 

“I’m so sorry this happened to you, Yoosung,” Minhee said quietly. 

Yoosung brushed off the sentiment with a wave of his hand. “It’s okay. I’ve made peace with it, for the most part. Plus, if this hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have met anyone at the RFA cafe. So I guess that’s some good to come out of it,” he said with a weak smile. “But that’s why I was so excited when you showed up here. Finally meeting someone who didn’t just automatically hate all ghouls on principle was really _really_ relieving. So thank you, Minhee. Seriously.” 

“You don’t need to thank me, Yoosung,” Minhee told him. 

Yoosung shrugged before glancing back down to the phone, “do you wanna turn the recording back on now?” 

Minhee remembered the interview she was supposed to be doing, and nodded as she unpaused the recording. She took a deep breath to find her focus again. 

“So up until six months ago, you were a human. This obviously gives you an extremely unique view on life as a ghoul. Can you tell me about what it was like when you were first adjusting to this new way of life?” 

“Oh geez, yeah, that wasn’t a fun time,” Yoosung started, “after I had figured out what I was, I’m pretty sure the first thing I said was, ‘I don’t wanna eat people’ or something like that. That was definitely the hardest part. And even now, I still get nauseous whenever I have to eat,” he bit his lip, “I felt guilty too. Still do, actually. I know it’s just what we need to do to survive, but you’re still… killing someone, you know? I mean, I try to only go after bad people, but that doesn’t really make me feel much better about it.

“The thing you don’t think about though is how terrifying it is to live every day surrounded by humans when you’re a ghoul. Every time I step out in public I feel my anxiety spike. Even if I’m just walking down the street I’m half-expecting a ghoul investigator to step out from an alley and attack me. You just never get a break.” Minhee winced at that as she tried to imagine it. 

“You… you straddle the line between human and ghoul. Given this unique perspective, what do you think humans should know about ghouls, and vice versa?” 

“I think the biggest thing that humans don’t realize is that ghouls don’t choose to be like this. Their- our only choice is to eat humans. We can’t survive any other way. All we want is to live. And of course some ghouls take it too far, they toy with their victims, forget the seriousness of death. And I think as someone who has been both human and ghoul, my opinion holds some weight when I say both groups deserve to live,” Yoosung looked up from his lap, his eyes locking with Minhee’s at those last words. 

Minhee nodded. “One last question. Do you think it’s possible for humans and ghouls to live together in peace?” 

Yoosung and Minhee’s gazes remained locked on each other. 

“It’ll take some time, but yeah, I think it’ll happen eventually.” 

Minhee smiled at him and shut the recording off. “Thank you, Yoosung. For telling me all this. I really appreciate your honesty.” And she meant it. She felt lucky for Yoosung to share something so personal with her. 

Yoosung gave her a shaky smile, but she could tell he was drained. “Of course. You’ve already started changing things with your articles. I just hope they keep changing for the better.” 

Just then, Minhee felt someone brush by her, and she jumped when she remembered Seven had said he was going to wait for Yoosung’s interview to be finished. He didn’t give her one of his usual boisterous greetings, instead beelining straight for Yoosung. 

“Hi Seven,” Yoosung greeted in a soft voice. 

“Hey Yoosung, hi Minhee,” Seven replied, placing a hand on Yoosung’s shoulder and not even looking at Minhee when he greeted her, “how’d the interview go?” 

“It went well I think,” Yoosung said, giving an uncertain look to Minhee. 

“It went very well,” Minhee reassured him. She put her notebook away into her bag, and started collecting her things. “I should get going though.” 

Both Yoosung and Seven looked relieved at this. “Yeah, it’s getting late,” Seven commented, still not looking away from Yoosung. 

Minhee pushed herself to her feet and slung her bag over her shoulder. She glanced back over, and saw Seven whispering something to Yoosung and she was pretty sure he asked, ‘are you okay?’ In response, she just saw Yoosung give a tiny shake of his head no, and Seven pursed his lips before stepping back to let Yoosung stand up. 

There was something about their body language. The way Seven kept his arm wrapped around Yoosung’s shoulders, the way Yoosung leaned into his touch like it was grounding him, the way Seven’s hand kept flexing as if he was waiting for a reason to grab Yoosung’s hand. All of it made Minhee take a pause. She knew Yoosung and Seven were close, but just how close were they?

She shook her head. It wasn’t the time to focus on that. Instead she turned to Irina and gestured that they were leaving, and the guard stood up and walked with her to the door of the cafe. 

“Get home safe guys!” Minhee called out to Seven and Yoosung. 

“You too, Minhee!” Yoosung replied, his smile just a tad weaker than usual.

Minhee smiled at the boys before turning and exiting the coffee shop, and into the cool night air.

☽☾

_”Saeyoung, where the hell have you been?” Saeyoung winced at his mother’s voice, and slowly turned to face her from where he’d been trying to silently creep down the hallway._

_“I-I was getting groceries for you. Like you told me to do,” Saeyoung said, keeping his eyes on his feet._

_“Did I?” The woman questioned, her words slurring. She was drunk again. Unsurprising. “Did you put them in the kitchen?” Saeyoung nodded. “Fine. Go talk to your brother. The little shit is crying again and it’s giving me a headache.”_

_Saeyoung flinched, biting his lip to hold back a retort. Instead, he just nodded and made his way into his and Saeran’s shared room._

_There on their bed was Saeran. Blood was streaming from his nose and tears stained his cheeks. Saeyoung rushed over to the bedside._

_“Saeran, what did she do to you this time?” He asked, grabbing his twin’s hands._

_Saeran looked up at him with wide golden eyes, bloodshot from crying. “She asked me for water, so I got her some but because my hands were shaking I dropped it and it shattered. S-So she slammed me into a wall.”_

_Saeyoung grimaced as he pulled Saeran into a hug. “I’m sorry I was gone for so long.”_

_“It’s okay, I’m okay Saeyoung,” Saeran told him, pulling back from the hug after a moment. “Did you go to the cathedral again?”_

_Saeyoung nodded as he brought his jacket sleeve up to wipe the blood from Saeran’s face. “I did. Rika and V were there and they said they were gonna get us out soon. We just need to wait a little longer.”_

_“Is it really as pretty outside as you say?” Saeran asked in a small voice._

_“Yes, it is,” Saeyoung responded._

_Saeran smiled. “Then I can wait.”_

_Saeyoung smiled back, then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a paper-wrapped block. “Here, Rika gave this to me. It’s more food.”_

_Saeran’s eyes lit up and he reached for the package, before hesitating. “Saeyoung, you need some too.”_

_“It’s okay, I already ate some of it,” Saeyoung reassured him, gesturing for Saeran to take the meat. Saeran looked at him warily for a moment, before grabbing the package and nearly ripping the paper off as he started to eat the meat._

_Saeyoung stepped back from the bed so Saeran could eat in peace. He had lied about having already eaten some of that. He hadn’t had any of the meat V and Rika had given him. But he knew Saeran needed it more than him._

_Their mother barely fed them as it was, but with Saeran it was to the point where he wasn’t healing from the injuries their mother inflicted on him. For most ghouls, it would take a few minutes for a black eye to heal, or a few hours for a broken bone. But Saeran’s eye had been bruised for a few days now, and the pointer finger on his left hand was still bent at an awkward angle from a week ago when their mother had slammed it in a door._

_She was starving them, and with Saeran’s already sick and fragile body, it was killing him faster than it was killing Saeyoung._

_From outside their bedroom, Saeyoung suddenly heard a loud, “SAEYOUNG!” Before he could do anything, their mother slammed open their door and peered into the room. “Where is the butter I asked you to-” her voice cut off when she glanced over to the bed._

_Saeran was frozen, black and red eyes wide with fear as he stared at the woman with the meat still in his hands._

_“You… you got human meat?” Their mother asked in a dangerously quiet voice, turning to look back at Saeyoung. “Where the hell did you get human meat?”_

_Before Saeyoung could respond, she was grabbing him by the hair and yanking him into the hallway near the kitchen. “YOU LITTLE MONSTER! DID YOU GO KILL SOMEONE?”_

_“No, I didn’t! Someone I know gave it to me-”_

_“SHUT UP!” She slammed his head into the side of the wall, and his vision went spinning. “You make me sick. It’s bad enough I have to keep human meat in the house as it is for you two demons, but at least I know where it comes from!” A slap sent Saeyoung flying to the floor, and he tasted blood in his mouth._

_She crouched down in front of him. “I could hand you over to the CCG. You’d be killed on the spot. You should be grateful I haven’t done that!” Saeyoung closed his eyes, bracing for another hit, but instead she stood up and walked to the refrigerator._

_His glasses had been knocked to the floor, so he watched through blurred vision as she pulled out a bottle of wine and began to drink straight from it. “You know, your father doesn’t pay me enough for this bullshit. As if taking care of two brats that aren’t even mine isn’t enough, they’re fucking ghouls!” She seemed to be talking to herself now as she paced around the kitchen, wine bottle in hand._

_After a moment, she stopped her pacing and looked right at Saeyoung. “Wait. You said you got that meat from someone you knew.” Saeyoung felt his blood run cold as she stormed back over and pulled him to his feet by his shirt. “Who have you been talking to? You haven’t just been going to the store like I told you to, isn’t that right?”_

_She shoved him against the wall, and leaned in close. Her alcohol-soaked breath made Saeyoung want to vomit._

_“Where have you been going, Saeyoung? Who have you told about this?”_

_Saeyoung squeezed his eyes shut. “I-I-I just ran into some ghouls while I was out! I didn’t tell them anything! They just saw I was hungry and gave me food!”_

_“STOP LYING!” Another slap to the face. “Ghouls don’t just give food away to random kids. I may be human but I’m not an idiot!”_

_“Stop hurting him!” Saeyoung’s eyes flew open as he saw Saeran standing next to them, eyes still glowing red._

_Their mother frowned and let go of Saeyoung, before grabbing Saeran by the hair. “Did you know about this? Did you know your brother was lying to me?”_

_Instead of responding, Saeran grabbed the hand holding his hair and began to dig his nails into the back of her palm._

_“OW!” Their mother yanked her hand away, and even with his blurry vision Saeyoung could see the bloody marks on her hand. Distantly, Saeyoung realized Saeran must be stronger than usual because he just ate._

_Their mother looked to her hand, and back to Saeran who was glaring at her now. A silent challenge._

_“You little piece of shit-” their mother grabbed him by the hair again, and before he could fight back, she yanked his head back before slamming it directly into the corner of the kitchen counter._

_“NO!” Saeyoung screamed, diving towards the two of them just a second too late._

Seven bolted upright from the couch, chest heaving as he struggled to remember where he was. He looked around the dark living room, and it took his panicked brain a moment to remember he was in Yoosung’s apartment. 

He looked beside him and saw Yoosung’s face half-smashed into the arm of the couch, completely dead to the world. Letting out a sigh of relief he hadn’t realized he was holding, Seven pushed himself to his feet and made his way to the kitchen to get some water. 

Seven stepped into the kitchen, flicking the light on and blinking as his eyes struggled to adjust to the brightness. He went over to the cabinet and took out a glass, his hand trembling violently. He closed the cabinet and turned to step to the sink so he could fill it with water, and took a few sips from it as he tried to clear his head. 

_Blood. There was so much blood on the floor from Saeran’s head that day._

The glass smashed in Seven’s hand, glittering shards falling to the floor in a pile. 

“Fuck!” Seven yelped, stepping back. 

_”I dropped it and it shattered. S-So she slammed me into a wall.”_

Seven’s breathing started to quicken as that memory kept replaying in his head. Saeran had been so sick, it was a miracle their mother slamming his head into the counter hadn’t killed him. A part of Saeyoung knew that if he hadn’t just eaten, he wouldn’t have been able to heal from that. 

Saeyoung turned around and rested his head against one of the cabinets, struggling to control his breathing. He didn’t need this. He didn’t need to remember her right now. He’d been doing so well. Saeyoung took a shaky breath and tried to convince himself he was fine. 

He was fine. Really. It was just a bad dream. Nothing more. 

A soft voice interrupted his thoughts. 

“Seven?” 

Saeyoung whipped around and locked eyes with Yoosung, who was standing in the doorway of the kitchen. His gaze was filled with concern as he took in the sight of the shattered glass scattered across the floor, and Saeyoung’s trembling form pressed against the wall.

“Oh, hey Yoosung,” Saeyoung greeted him, his voice strained. “Sorry about the, um- sorry about the glass. I just dropped it.” Then, his tone turned chipper, and Saeyoung grinned. “I’ll clean it up, don’t you worry! God 707 is on the job!” 

“Seven, are you okay?” Yoosung asked quietly, taking a step towards him. It took all of Saeyoung’s willpower not to shrink further back against the wall. 

“Of course I'm okay! God 707 not being okay? Impossible! I’m a _god_! I’m all powerful!” Saeyoung continued, forcing a grin on his face. 

Yoosung was not convinced by his act whatsoever. “Seriously, what’s wrong?” He asked, taking another step closer to Saeyoung. 

Saeyoung’s grin faltered. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself, and then the smile fell from his face completely. 

“Really Yoosung, I’m fine,” he tried again, not bothering with the cheerfulness this time. Yoosung still didn't buy it, and took a final step so he was face to face with Saeyoung. 

“Then why are your hands shaking?” He asked, taking one of Saeyoung’s hands in his own. 

Saeyoung met Yoosung’s gaze for a moment, before sighing and turning away, taking his hand back from the other boy. 

“I just had a bad dream,” he said, looking down at the counter so he wouldn’t have to see Yoosung’s worry. “I’ll be fine soon. Just go back to bed.” 

Yoosung was silent for a moment, before Saeyoung felt him rest a hand on his shoulder.  
“Luciel…” Yoosung whispered, “let me be there for you like you are for me.”

Saeyoung winced at that, his heart pounding as tears pricked his eyes. One of his hands clenched into a fist and he squeezed his eyes shut, hoping Yoosung would just go away. He didn’t need to see Saeyoung like this. 

Suddenly, Yoosung pulled him into a hug, and Saeyoung froze for a moment before instinct took over and he wrapped his arms around Yoosung’s waist and buried his face in the boy’s shoulder. 

Yoosung didn’t say anything as he started rubbing small circles into Saeyoung’s back. His breathing hitched, and he let out a shuddering sigh into Yoosung’s shirt as his heart rate began to slow. 

The last time Saeyoung had cried in front of someone it was V, the day he was leaving Saeran. It made him feel exposed, vulnerable. A harsh reminder that he couldn’t always be happy go lucky 707, despite how much he wished he could. But with Yoosung… it felt okay. It was okay to be Saeyoung, every once in a while. 

A few minutes passed, and his breathing evened out completely. He pulled away from Yoosung, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. 

“Sorry about that,” he said in a hoarse voice. 

“You don’t need to apologize,” Yoosung told him. “Do you wanna go back to the living room and watch some anime or something until we fall asleep again?” 

“But what about the glass?” Saeyoung asked. 

“We can clean it up in the morning,” Yoosung said, waving the concern away. He reached out a hand for Saeyoung to take. “C’mon, let’s go watch some Ouran.” 

A small smile tugged at the corners of Saeyoung’s lips, and he placed his hand in Yoosung’s. 

“Alright.”

☽☾

Seven woke to the sound of his phone buzzing.

“Hello?” Seven mumbled as he pressed the phone to his face, not even noticing Yoosung having fallen asleep on his chest. 

“Luciel, get down to the cafe. We have an emergency,” Jumin snapped. Seven’s eyes flew open. 

“What’s going on?” He asked, already pushing Yoosung off of him to grab his shoes. 

“Just get down here. And bring Yoosung.” And with that, Jumin hung up. 

Seven cursed as he shoved his phone in his pocket, and hastily began to tie his shoes. 

“Seven? What’s going on?” Yoosung asked from the couch, his words slurring from exhaustion. 

“Yoosung, get up. We gotta get to the cafe right now. There’s an emergency.”

☽☾

_SNAP!_

The camera snapped the selfie of Zen and his fan, and he checked it to make sure it was good before handing the phone back to the young lady. 

“Here you go!” 

“Oh, thank you so much, Zen! I love your work!” She told him, a radiant smile on her face. 

“Thank you! I hope to see you at my next show!” Zen replied, beaming at her. She blushed heavily before turning and walking away, pausing to wave goodbye to him. 

Zen would’ve waved back, when his phone started to buzz. 

“Yo, it’s Zen,” Zen answered, not looking at who was calling him. 

“Zen, I need you to get to the cafe right now.” 

Zen frowned when he heard Jumin’s voice over the speaker. “What do you want, trust fund? I’m on my way to rehearsal.” 

“This is an emergency. All members of the RFA need to be here right now.” If Zen hadn’t known any better, he would’ve almost sworn Jumin sounded… afraid. 

“...fine. I’ll call in sick, but the director is gonna be pissed.”

☽☾

“I’ll take these,” Jaehee said, resting a bag of persimmons on the register counter.

The cashier rang her up, and Jaehee had to stifle a yawn. She wondered if Minhee was going to be at the cafe today. She knew Minhee had work, but she hoped she would get to see her. A part of her was considering asking Minhee out to see a movie or something. Zen kept encouraging her to spend more time with Minhee, and Jaehee wasn’t opposed to the idea. In fact, it was quite the opposite. 

Maybe she could see what movies were playing and suggest them to Minhee. It could be nice. 

Suddenly, Jaehee felt a buzzing in her pocket and pulled out her phone. 

“Hello, Kang Jaehee speaking.” 

“Assistant- I mean Jaehee,” Jumin started, “I need you to get to the cafe right now.” 

Jaehee frowned. “Jumin, my shift doesn’t start for another hour.” 

“This isn’t about your shift. This is an emergency meeting for the RFA.” Jaehee felt a cold chill run up her spine. 

“I’ll be there as soon as possible,” Jaehee said before hanging up. She grabbed the bag of persimmons and turned to walk out of the store, the cashier yelling a faint ‘don’t you want a receipt?’ that she ignored.

☽☾

Minhee was the last to arrive at the cafe. The cafe was closed, and the emptiness of the place in broad daylight gave Minhee chills.

She beelined straight for the staff door, and when she opened it she saw the entire RFA standing around in a half circle, a mixture of confusion and concern. 

“Minhee, I’m glad you made it,” V greeted from the far end of the room. 

“V?” Minhee asked, letting the door shut behind her as she moved to stand beside Jaehee, “I thought you weren’t due back for another week.” 

“Jumin alerted me to our situation, and I decided to cut my trip short and come back straight away.” 

Minhee’s jaw clenched. If V cut his business trip short for this, it had to be serious. 

“Can you guys tell us what the situation is though?” Zen asked, clearly frustrated. “And who is this guy?” 

In the center of the room, seated at the table in the staff lounge, was a man Minhee recognized as a familiar in the cafe. He looked terrified. 

V placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Introduce yourself and tell them what you told Jumin.” 

The man gulped. “My name is Pai Kiwoo. I’ve been coming to your cafe for a few years now, and I always recommend it to my friends,” he was fiddling with his hands, and he seemed to be sweating a lot. “Last night, my friend Joonki and I were out hunting, when we ran into some CCG agents. They ended up cornering Joonki, while I managed to hide.” He winced, clenching his fist. 

“In a last ditch attempt at saving himself, Joonki ended up telling the investigators that he’d tell them where a ghoul haven was. I stayed close and listened, and he told them all about the RFA cafe. Then when he was done, they took him into custody.” He took a shuddering breath. “I’m so sorry. I would’ve tried to fight the investigators but they were too much for just me to handle. I thought the least I could do was warn you.” 

Silence filled the room. Complete, deafening silence. 

Then, 

“...they’re going to try to kill all of us,” Jaehee whispered. 

V nodded. 

“Which means it’s time to prepare for a fight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary of the flashback: Young Saeyoung came back from running errands for their mother, he brought meat for Saeran that he'd gotten from Rika, their mother ended up finding out and got angry with Saeyoung, she yelled about having to raise two ghoul children that weren't even hers (as she's a human being paid by their father to raise the twins) and threatened to turn them into the CCG, Saeran tried to defend Saeyoung and ended up being hurt really badly by her
> 
> SO ANYWAY 
> 
> hehehehe finally we can get to the big drama ;) 
> 
> oh yeah and I know Yoosung's story is basically just Kaneki's but leave me alone it fit so well I just felt like doing it
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please give me a kudos and let me know in the comments below! They make my day! 
> 
> My tumblr (feel free to hmu!)  
> cactusskiddo.tumblr.com


	12. On This Night, And In This Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY SO I'M SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED THE COLLEGE AU YET I'M JUST A SLUT FOR TOKYO GHOUL
> 
> Also I've been hella busy with school (and I have finals next week oh god kill me now) so I probably won't be able to update my college au fic till after I'm done with school, but then it's SUMMER BREAK so I'll have a LOT more free time to write. HOORAY!!!
> 
> Anyway, this chapter was not supposed to exist but one thing led to another and next thing I knew i had a full chapters worth of what was supposed to just be exposition
> 
> Whatever, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I know I certainly had a lot of fun writing it
> 
> Thank you so much for all the love you've given this fic so far!!! I love all you guys so much, you make me so happy!!
> 
> oh also: chapter title taken from the song Fallingforyou by the 1975

The most nerve wracking part of knowing the CCG was going to attack the RFA, was not knowing _when_ it was going to happen. 

Since the day of the tip, Minhee had to keep going to work in order to avoid suspicion, but it was difficult to focus on much of anything. She was in a constant state of worry, her fear gnawing away at her and leaving her feeling open and exposed. 

Minhee was constantly glancing over her shoulder, wondering if she was being followed. Irina continuously assured her she wasn’t, that she was keeping an eye out for that, but Minhee was still paranoid. 

Throughout the day, she would text Jaehee for updates. Nothing was ever going on, and Jaehee always said she would immediately tell Minhee if anything happened, but that didn’t stop Minhee from checking just in case. 

When Minhee would leave work though, she would immediately go to the RFA Cafe and stay there late into the night. The fact that the RFA had been told about this beforehand gave them an opportunity to prepare, and V wasn’t wasting it. 

Every evening they trained. They converted almost the entirety of the upstairs from an apartment to a training room. Minhee would get switched off between the members, practicing constantly with her quinque. While they all agreed they didn’t want her involved in the fight, it would be suspicious if Butterfly were to not be around for something like this. 

The plan V had laid out was that when the CCG’s operation began, Butterfly would show up for the first minutes of it, try to be seen as many of the CCG as possible, and then feign an injury. Then, someone in the RFA would carry her away and take her back to her apartment to wait the rest of the fight out. 

Minhee didn’t like this plan. She wanted to stay, protect her friends and the cafe she had grown to love so much, but she was outvoted by everyone. 

But still, for the first few minutes of the encounter, she would still have to fight. So she sparred. 

Her muscles were constantly aching, and bruises littered her entire body. No one in the RFA was going easy on her now. And while it was difficult, with each passing day Minhee noticed she was getting better. She knew how to predict their movements, and learned to use that against them. 

Jaehee tended to feint right and distract with two of her kagune while using the third as a surprise, while Zen would charge head on and didn’t bother with the tricky moves. Yoosung was too quick for most of her attacks, but had a tendency to favor his left side. Jumin was easy to outmaneuver in terms of speed, as he wasn’t the best at dodging, but he was tactical and knew exactly how to predict every move she made. Seven was the most difficult to fight, as he seemed to be most aware of his weaknesses, but Minhee noticed he relied on his line of sight a bit too much, and did whatever she could to attack him from his blind spots. 

V didn’t fight. He would just observe the sparring of all the RFA members from the sidelines, throwing out tips from time to time. Minhee wondered why this was, but could never find the time to ask someone about it. 

Every night, after their practice sessions, Seven would hack into the CCG’s database to find out if they were planning an attack. While it wasn’t foolproof that he would find out if they were going to launch an assault on the cafe through this method, it would most likely tip them off. 

It had been about a week since Kiwoo had tipped them off. The RFA was gathered in the upstairs apartment of the cafe, resting after a particularly rough sparring session. Minhee was sitting on the couch with Jaehee and Zen, her head in Jaehee’s lap and her feet on Zen’s thighs. Zen was holding his phone in one hand with his other resting on Minhee’s calf. Jaehee was absentmindedly running her fingers through Minhee’s hair, and Minhee was struggling not to fall asleep. 

Across the room, at the kitchen island counter Jumin and V were drinking coffee and talking quietly to each other. Minhee could see V was rubbing at his eyes as they spoke, while Jumin scribbled things down in a notepad. 

Near the middle of the room, next to one of the only outlets was Seven, typing rapidly onto his laptop. Yoosung sat behind him, his chin resting on Seven’s shoulder as he watched the code fly by. Seven didn’t seem to mind this closeness, despite how uncomfortable it must’ve been to be hunched over a laptop on the floor with someone’s head right next to yours. Minhee thought it was cute. 

It was quiet, save for the murmurs of Jumin and V’s conversation and the click clack of Seven’s keyboard. As her eyes grew heavier, Minhee let them close, the gentle scrape of Jaehee’s nails against her scalp making her melt into the couch as her exhaustion began to overtake her. 

“Ah shit, I found it.” 

Minhee’s eyes flew open as she bolted upright, head whipping towards where Seven and Yoosung were sitting. Seven was scrolling through his laptop and Yoosung had scooched away, but was still hovering by his shoulder to watch the screen as well. 

“What was that, Luciel?” Jumin asked, getting out of his chair and moving over to the boys. The sleepy atmosphere from just a few moments earlier had vanished, and all the RFA members went on alert. 

“In an email from the CCG’s Executive Board to the ghoul investigators of the East Sector, ‘We have found substantial evidence that suggests the existence of a ghoul organization located at the RFA Cafe in the East Sector. It is unknown how many ghouls are a part of this organization, but by order of the Director an extermination will be carried out using all four squads of the sector. This raid will be launched at 8pm on Friday evening. Standard raid procedure applies, consider all ghouls encountered to be rating A or above unless proven otherwise.’” Seven finished reading from his screen, sitting back from the computer with a blank expression. 

Friday. That was tomorrow. Minhee felt like she had ice in her veins. 

V was the first to speak. “Good job on finding that, Luciel,” he said, walking over from the counter to stand beside Jumin. “We not only know the day of the raid, but the exact time as well. Most ghouls aren’t so lucky to have this information prior to a raid. But thanks to Luciel’s skillset, we are going to be prepared as possible to deal with this threat.” 

“You think we can be prepared? They’re sending all the ghoul investigators in the East Sector over here!” Zen exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. 

“What Zen, you think all this sparring has been for fun?” Jumin asked, quirking an eyebrow at the man. 

“Shut it, trust fund,” Zen grumbled, gently pushing Minhee’s feet off his lap as he stood up. “Obviously we’ve been training for the past week, but a week of fighting each other on practice mats is nothing compared to facing off against four dove squads,” Zen continued, moving so he was face to face with Jumin. 

“Well what do you propose as an alternative plan?” Jumin asked, staring Zen down with a calm expression. Zen clenched his jaw, but stayed silent. Jumin nodded. “That’s what I thought.” 

“Alright, now that that’s settled,” V said as Zen returned to his seat on the couch, “I recognize we must make a plan for how things will go tomorrow night. Jumin and I have been preparing our strategy for the past few days, so I will allow him to lay things out.” He nodded to Jumin, who took out the notebook Minhee had noticed him writing in earlier. 

“So, the CCG will begin their raid around 8pm tomorrow evening. The goal is not to massacre every agent in the vicinity, but to force them into retreat. Starting out, we will have Jaehee, Zen, and Luciel in the front lines, defending from the front of the cafe. Yoosung, you and I are to act as support from the sides in case Jaehee, Zen, or Luciel gets stuck in an unfavorable situation. V will act in the role I usually take from afar, advising everyone on their surroundings and impending ambushes.” 

Minhee raised her hand. “I want to act as support as well.” 

“Minhee,” Jaehee murmured, placing her hand on Minhee’s arm. “We’ve already gone over your part-” 

“I know this,” Minhee said, standing up from her place on the couch, “but I think it’s a stupid plan. I can fight CCG agents, we know this. Especially now after all the training I’ve done with you guys.” 

“The doves have had years of training to be able to face ghouls. You have had a few months. You may have gotten lucky in the past with the agents you’ve encountered, but do not fool yourself into thinking you’re more capable than you actually are,” Jumin told her, narrowing his eyes. “All that will lead to is you getting injured, which is something none of us want.” 

“But I’m not just going to sit back at my apartment while my friends could be dying! What if something happens to you all? I’ll have no way of finding out!” Minhee’s voice was rising, and the rest of the RFA had risen to their feet to watch the exchange. When Jumin’s expression didn’t change, Minhee turned to V. “V, please, you know I’m capable. You’ve been watching my training. You have to let me help you all.” 

V sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Minhee, you must understand, I can’t have it on my conscious to leave one of my members defenseless in the midst of an extremely dangerous battle-” 

“I won’t be defenseless!” Minhee protested, “I have this!” She picked up her quinque briefcase from where it was still laying on a training mat, and pressed the button to convert it to a whip. “Please, I can do this.” 

Everyone was silent, and Minhee felt her frustration grow as the RFA stared at her with identical faces of sympathy. 

Then, 

“Alright, let’s prove it,” all eyes turned to Seven as he cracked his knuckles and began walking towards Minhee, his eyes turning black. 

“Luciel, what are you-” 

“Shut it,” Seven said, cutting V off. Minhee watched as he approached her, stopping when he was about two yards away from where she was standing. She didn’t even get a chance to blink before his kagune were out and he was rushing towards her. 

Muscle memory kicking into gear, Minhee dodged left as a tentacle went right for her side. 

“SEVEN! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?” Zen shouted. If Minhee looked over at him, she would’ve seen Jumin holding him back from physically throwing himself at Seven, but she was too busy jumping on the couch to avoid another attack to her back. 

Whirling around, Minhee threw her whip at Seven, opening a gash on his arm. He jumped on the couch as well, and she backstepped until she hit the arm of the couch and fell off onto the ground. 

Her head slammed against the wood, sending her vision spinning. Through the blur though, she could see Seven standing where she just was, and saw him jump up in the air. Reacting instinctively, she rolled to the right, and he slammed into the ground where she’d just been. 

“Luciel, this is eno-” 

“I know what I’m doing!” 

Scrambling to her feet, she threw her whip at him again, this time opening a gash in his chest. He leapt to his feet and continued to run towards her, the gash not even affecting him. Minhee stumbled backwards, dodging another tentacle shooting straight for her abdomen by jumping to the side. 

The assault continued, Minhee dodging every attack with just centimeters to spare. Another tentacle shot straight for her face, and Minhee fell into a deep back bend and watched the kagune sail straight over her head and into the wall. 

Straightening back up, Minhee threw her whip at Seven multiple times, creating small cuts along his arms and legs. Sprinting around him, she fell into the corner of his vision and as he was turning around, she wrapped her whip around his arm. 

After that, everything went in bullet time. Minhee yanked her whip forward so Seven stumbled towards her. Then she grabbed his arm in her own and used the momentum from her pulling him towards her to flip him over her shoulder and onto the ground. 

Just how quickly the fight had begun, it had ended. 

Seven stared at her from the ground with wide eyes, and Minhee slowly lifted her head to see the entire RFA gaping at her. 

Glancing back down to Seven, she saw he was smiling. 

“Glad to know I was right,” he said, pushing himself to his feet. The cuts on his arms were already healing, but Minhee still winced at the blood smeared along his skin. 

“Right about what, Seven?” Yoosung asked, arms crossed over his chest. 

“That she was more prepared than we thought,” Seven explained, still grinning. “Sorry for the surprise attack, Minhee. I wanted to take you off guard.” 

“I thought you were going stab her!” Zen complained, walking over to join them on their end of the room. He put his hands on Minhee’s shoulders. “Are you okay?” 

Minhee had to blink a few times before nodding. “Yeah… yeah I am,” she told him, her own smile growing on her face, “I’m great actually.” 

“Okay, so I have gleaned two things from that,” V started, making all eyes turn to him, “Firstly, Luciel, while I understand your reasoning, in the future please refrain from attacking another member with no explanation,” V said, running a hand through his hair. “Secondly, despite Luciel’s unconventional method, I think that proves Minhee’s capabilities in a fight were far beyond what we all originally thought.” 

“So…?” Minhee tried not to look too eager. 

V turned to Jumin. “Add to the plan that Minhee will be providing support alongside Yoosung and yourself,” he instructed. 

Jumin frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but V cut him off before he could. 

“If she gets injured, I will take her out of the fight myself,” V assured. Jumin stared him down for a moment, and a silent conversation seemed to pass between them. V nodded once more, and Jumin sighed and looked back down to the notebook, before scribbling in what was presumably Minhee’s role in the plan. 

“Thank you so much, V!” Minhee said, bowing at him slightly before looking around the room with a big grin. She was so relieved. It felt like a giant weight had been lifted off her shoulders. 

“I don’t know why you’re so excited. This is something that’s putting your life in danger,” Jumin said, arms folded across his chest as he frowned at her. 

Minhee stared at Jumin for a moment, before she sighed and pushed her bangs back from her face. 

“You still don’t get it, do you?” She wondered aloud, a humorless laugh escaping her. “I care about you guys. And no matter what, I’d always rather die trying to protect the people I care about than sit away from it all, safe and alone. So I don’t care if I’m putting my life at risk. I’m gonna be able to help protect you guys. That’s all I care about.”

☽☾

The RFA didn’t stay at the cafe much longer after that. Once the plans were finalized, V sent everyone home to get some rest. Minhee knew none of them were probably going to sleep. She knew she wasn’t going to. 

She had arrived back at her apartment with Irina, and bid the woman farewell as Tanya arrived to take her place. As usual, Tanya took her place in the living room while Minhee went to her room to get ready for bed. 

During her shower, she couldn’t stop staring at the dark bruises dotted all around her body like polka dots. She was so different from when she had first walked into that cafe. Both physically, and mentally. The physical changes were obvious. She was stronger. Her muscles were more clearly defined, her legs well-toned and her biceps actually noticeable for the first time in her life. The mental changes were more subtle, but they were there. 

Minhee didn’t jump at small noises anymore. She didn’t pretend to laugh or smile when men that disturbed her tried to flirt with her in public. She didn’t judge people based off her first impressions of them. She didn’t assume anything about anyone until she knew more of who they were. She was a better person. 

The hot water ran over her body, a soothing balm to the aches all over her body. Holding her hand up in front of her, she clenched and unclenched her fist, watching the way the muscles danced beneath her skin. She liked this new version of herself. She was more confident than she had ever been before, and she was more assured in who she was as a person. She thought this would just be a wild goose chase of ghoul hunting when she originally requested to do her interviews. It ended up being so much more. 

Putting her hand down, Minhee shut off the water and stepped out of the shower to dry off. It felt odd to go through her usual nightly routine, knowing this time tomorrow she or the people she knew could very well be dead. But her body moved on autopilot, pulling her old college t-shirt over her head, deft fingers securing her long hair into a braid, applying her nightly skin care products to her face. All of it were things she’d done a million times before. 

_It won’t be the last time,_ she told herself as she massaged lotion into her face. 

Once she was finished, she shut off the light and stepped out of the bathroom and into her bedroom. The curtains in her room were pulled up, and soft moonlight streamed through her window and onto her bed. She climbed into this patch of moonlight and pulled the covers up around her, eyes fluttering shut as she told herself to sleep. 

Of course, as soon as she did this the anxieties about tomorrow began to rise up stronger than ever. 

What if their information was wrong? What if they weren’t just bringing four squads, but five or six or ten? What if the raid started earlier than they expected? What if it was starting right now? Wait, that’s ridiculous, no one was even at the cafe right now. But what if they found out where the others lived, and were hunting them down this very moment? They could look up the cafes records, couldn’t they? Minhee’s mind raced with possibilities, and she squeezed her eyes shut tighter as she tried and failed to ignore the screaming of her thoughts. 

Suddenly, Minhee heard a small knocking noise coming from her window. 

Eyes snapping open, Minhee bolted upright and instinctively reached for her quinque (which she kept right next to her bed now) as she turned to look at the source of the noise. 

Minhee’s shoulders sagged in relief when she saw Jaehee standing outside on her windowsill, peering into the room with wide eyes. 

Jumping to her feet, Minhee rushed over to the window and fumbled with the lock as she tried to pull it open. After a moment of struggling, she yanked the window up and Jaehee climbed inside, and Minhee shut the window as soon as she had fallen to the ground. 

“Jaehee, what are you doing here?” Minhee asked quietly, helping the woman to her feet. 

Once firmly on her feet, Jaehee looked at Minhee for a moment, before sighing. “I… couldn’t stop worrying about you. I just wanted to come make sure you were okay.” 

Minhee looked down at Jaehe’s hands, and threaded her fingers with the other woman’s. “I’m okay. Don’t worry about me, Jaehee. I want you to worry more about yourself. You’re going to be the one in the most danger tomorrow.” 

“I’m going to worry about yo no matter what,” Jaehee told her. 

“I know,” Minhee whispered. It was silent for a moment. Just the two women’s soft breaths as they stood in the moonlight streaming through her window. 

“I should… get going, shouldn’t I?” Jaehee asked, going to pull away from Minhee. 

Minhee’s eyes widened, and she tugged Jaehe back. “No,” she said without thinking. Jaehee blinked at her, and Minhee flushed but still held onto her hands. “I mean—I don’t mean no. I just mean… you don’t have to go. You can stay here with me. For a little while longer.” 

Jaehee looked up at Minhee in surprise. “Are you sure that I won’t be bothering you?” 

Minhee rolled her eyes. “Jaehee, you could never be a bother to me. You know that.” 

Without giving Jaehee a chance to respond, Minhee led her by the hands towards her bed. Her body was feeling the exhaustion of the day now, and she wanted to take advantage of this while she could. She let go of Jaehee’s hand to crawl under her side, and gestured for Jaehee to join her. 

“C’mon. We should at least try to get some rest,” Minhee said. 

Minhee knew that if she had been awake, she would’ve never been so… casual about this. But she was tired, and she didn’t want Jaehee to leave. That was all that mattered right now. 

Jaehee glanced between Minhee and the side of the bed she was pointing to. She seemed hesitant, but after a moment, she sighed and slipped her shoes off before crawling underneath the covers with Minhee. 

Minhee waited a moment for her to get settled. The two women were face to face on the two pillows, and Minhee couldn’t help but notice the way the moonlight made Jaehee’s eyes look like two pools of honey. 

“I’m scared for tomorrow,” Jaehee admitted softly. 

“I am too,” Minhee replied. “I don’t know what I’d do if anyone gets hurt.” She pauses for a moment, before lifting her hand to rest on Jaehee’s cheek. “I have no clue what I’d do if you got hurt.” 

Jaehee closed her eyes for a moment, and rested her hand on top of Minhee’s. “We’re going to be okay. All of us.” 

“Yes, we are,” Minhee agreed. She scooted closer to Jaehee, and pressed their foreheads together. 

The tranquility of the night wrapped around the two women, as they were bathed in the moonlight from the sky above. Minhee began to move the hand still resting on Jaehee’s cheek, tracing over all the planes and curves of her face. She closed her eyes, letting her fingertips be her vision. 

“Minhee?” Jaehee said quietly, breaking the silence. 

“Yes?” 

“Can… can I kiss you?” 

Minhee’s eyes fluttered open, and she was met with the softest expression she’d ever seen on Jaehee’s face. Her heartbeat stuttered, before a small smile quirked the corners of her lips. 

“I’ve been waiting for you to ask.” 

Jaehee leaned forward, and Minhee felt warm lips pressing against her own. Her lips were soft, and tasted like mint. Minhee moved her hand to trace her fingers along Jaehee’s jaw, while she felt Jaehee twist her fingers gently in Minhee’s hair. She felt a warmth bloom in her chest, and she shifted closer until her body was pressed flush with Jaehee’s. 

As they continued to kiss, Minhee felt something wet against her cheeks. Pulling away slightly, her eyes widened when she saw tears staining Jaehee’s cheeks. 

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Minhee asked softly, brushing away some of the tears with her thumb. 

Jaehee hesitated before answering. “It’s foolish,” she dismissed, looking away from Minhee’s face. 

“No, it isn’t,” Minhee insisted. “Tell me, what’s wrong?” 

This caused another sigh from Jaehee, and she reached down to interlace her fingers with Minhee’s. “I’m just… terrified worrying about what we’re going to lose tomorrow. I’m terrified of losing you.” 

Minhee furrowed her brows, and shifted so she could pull Jaehee onto her chest. “Don’t worry. It’s going to be okay, Jaehee,” Minhee reassured her, running her fingers through Jaehee’s short, dark strands. “Just close your eyes and try to get some rest, okay?” 

Jaehee seemed as if she wanted to argue, but after a moment she shook her head and buried her face in Minhee’s shirt. Jaehee’s arms snaked around Minhee’s waist, and Minhee was warm as she felt herself begin to drift off. 

“Sleep well, Minhee,” Jaehee whispered. 

“Goodnight, my Jaehee,” Minhee whispered in return.

☽☾

“And how are our plans progressing?” The woman asked the man kneeling in front of her, her hands folded neatly in her lap. 

“Exactly as you predicted,” the kneeling man said. “They have allowed the human girl to join them in their defense against the incoming raid.” 

Moonlight streamed into the church through the large window above the door, illuminating the red and gold throne the woman was seated on. 

“Excellent. That’s just what we want,” the woman purred. “Tomorrow I want you to double check we have all our members ready to leave at 8pm.” 

The man nodded. “Of course.” 

The woman smiled, the corners of her mouth curling up like a cheshire cats. The hooded figures that formed a half circle around the woman all bowed their heads, just as the man in front of her pushed himself to his feet. 

“For eternal paradise,” the woman said as a farewell, her voice as smooth as silk. 

“For eternal paradise, my Savior.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> I legit didn't have any of this written in my plan. Jaehee and Minhee were supposed to kiss _next_ chapter BUT guess what!!! You guys get one this chapter!!!
> 
> Also ,,, we finally get to see a bit of what a certain cult leader is up to ;) I know you guys have been asking in the comments about her, and trust me you're going to start seeing a lot more of her pretty soon so be excited
> 
> Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please leave me a kudos and comment if you did! Comments really really make my day :) 
> 
> Come chat with me on tumblr!   
> cactusskiddo.tumblr.com


	13. Where did the Party go?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> idk how else to describe this other than shit goes down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;)
> 
> ;)))))
> 
> y'all are in for a treat
> 
> ANYWAY so I like,,, highkey didn't wanna start this chapter just because writing the beginning was very awkward for me to figure out how I wanted to do it so that was the delay on this chap, but I DID IT AND IT'S DONE AND I'M VERY HAPPY WITH HOW THIS TURNED OUT
> 
> anyway thank you all so much for the love and support on this fic!!! I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter as this marks the end of what I refer to as 'Act 1' of this fic so ;) fun times are ahead
> 
> chapter title comes from Fall Out Boy's 'Where did the party go' (if that wasn't self-explanatory lol) 
> 
> enjoy!!

Vanderwood is the first to spot them. 

The RFA is perched on the roof of the cafe, each one of the members standing in a line, waiting as the CCG approached. Being at the front, it wasn’t long before Vanderwood was able to make out each of their masks and identify each ghoul by their codename. 

Phantom, Doe, Black Cat, Jester, One Eye, and Butterfly. Vanderwood frowned as they looked them all over. There were seven members of the RFA. Where was the last one? 

“Associate Special Class!” Vanderwood’s head whipped toward the investigator waving them over, their train of thought being interrupted. 

“What is it, First Class Yoon?” They asked, stepping towards the older woman. 

“We’re awaiting your signal to begin the raid,” she explained, hands folded behind her back and eyes like chips of dark ice. 

Vanderwood glanced back up to the cafe. They couldn’t tell with the masks, but they could practically feel Jester’s smirk beneath his mask. Their gaze moved over to Butterfly, and despite the distance between them, they could tell she was watching them. 

Without breaking eye contact, Vanderwood reached up to touch their earpiece and relayed orders. 

“Begin.”

☽☾

Everything exploded into chaos.

Minhee saw Vanderwood touch their earpiece, and the next thing she knew, the CCG were running towards the cafe at full force. Jaehee, Zen, and Seven all jumped down from the roof in unison, kagune sliding out as the fight began. 

Looking across the roofs to a few buildings away, Minhee could make out V, his hair barely visible in the shadows of the building. He nodded at her, and she turned to look at the fighting below. 

Vanderwood had disappeared in the two seconds she hadn’t been looking, but she could see multiple CCG investigators surrounding all three of her friends. Minhee watched as Zen chucked an investigator toward a wall, before turning around to stab another through the shoulder. Jaehee knocked investigators aside with her kagune, her tentacles moving so quickly they were like a blur. Seven ran up a wall and kicked off, flying backwards above several investigators heads before landing on one knee, impaling four investigators all at once. 

Minhee looked back up to the roof she was on, and saw Jumin holding a hand up to his ear. 

“Are you sure?” He asked in a whisper. A beat. “Alright.” Jumin then looked to Yoosung and Minhee. 

“V has just informed me that another wave of quinque users are incoming. We need to get down there.” 

“Alright,” Minhee said with a quick nod. 

Yoosung nodded as well and picked Minhee up bridal style, before jumping off the building and into the fighting below. Jumin followed. Yoosung set Minhee down and she activated her quinque, and in her peripheral she could see Yoosung and Jumin’s kagune slide out. 

“HEY BUTTERFLY!” 

Minhee whirled around to see a young woman around her age in an investigator’s uniform, breathing heavily as she made her way towards Minhee. She was wielding a sword-like quinque, and Minhee lashed her whip as she went to meet the woman halfway. 

The fighting was a blur. Minhee yanked weapons and sliced arms with her whip, jumped and dodged different attempts at attacks, and her white shirt slowly got stained with blood. Not all hers, not all other peoples. Time passed in a flurry of whips lashes and barely avoided gunshots. 

At one point, the sword woman had her pinned against a wall, quinque pressed to her throat. She was struggling against her grip, but the investigator was too strong. 

“INCOMING!” Minhee opened her eyes right as Yoosung came barreling towards them, knocking the investigator off of her and pinning the woman to the floor. Minhee picked her whip up off the ground, struggling to catch her breath as she rubbed her neck. 

“Are you okay?” Yoosung asked, walking towards her. Minhee glanced over and saw the woman wasn’t moving from where she was laying on the concrete. Yoosung winced when he noticed her looking. “I think she got knocked out when I slammed her into the ground,” he explained. 

“Makes sense,” Minhee commented. She glanced back to Yoosung, and rubbed her neck again. “I’m fine now, thank you.” 

Yoosung nodded, and opened his mouth to say something when he paused and brought a hand up to his ear. He frowned and looked back up. “I have to go help Zen. If you need help, just yell.” 

Minhee gave him a thumbs up and watched him run back up the wall before disappearing into the throng of fighting again. Sighing, Minhee looked around trying to figure out who she needed to go help. 

She saw Yoosung and Zen surrounded by three investigators, backs pressed against each other as Zen attacked and Yoosung defended. Turning away, Minhee latched onto to Seven’s bright red hair, watching him as he danced his way around no less than five investigators. Continuing to look on, Minhee saw Jaehee nearby, faring about as well as Seven against two investigators. Then her eyes locked onto Jumin. 

He was battling against one dove, and while he seemed to be dodging the man’s attacks fairly well, the dove was able to defend against Jumin’s attacks just as well. Minhee knew at this rate either the dove was going to mess up, or Jumin was. And while she couldn’t really imagine Jumin of all people making a slip up, she didn’t wan to take that risk. 

Tightening her grip on her whip, Minhee sprinted towards the investigator Jumin was backing away from, using his tail to block the dove’s hits from the giant scythe they were wielding. The dove didn’t hear her coming amidst the chaos, and she threw her whip forward, wrapping it around the investigator’s wrist holding his scythe. The investigator made a noise of surprise as Minhee pulled her whip back, leaving his chest wide open. Jumin’s kagune impaled the man’s side, and he dropped his scythe before collapsing to the ground. 

“Thank you for the assistance,” Jumin said, bowing his head at her. 

“No problem,” Minhee responded. 

There wasn’t much more time for chitchat when Minhee felt a bullet fly right past her head, and she whirled around to see yet another dove pointing a gun at her. 

Things fell into a pattern after that. Jumin helped her fight the investigator who tried to shoot her, and together they incapicitated the man quickly. Then Minhee hopped around the battle, helping the others whenever she could. But as time went on, she got more and more tired, and it seemed the onslaught was never ending. She could tell the other members of the RFA were getting tired as well, but the CCG forces just kept on coming. 

Minhee was leaning against a wall as she tried to catch her breath, trying to ignore the feeling of blood soaking into her shirt. It wasn’t her blood at least. 

Then, she heard her name. 

“Butterfly, it’s good to see you again,” the familiar voice of Vanderwood crooned. “Or should I say Choi Minhee?” 

Minhee sighed and peeled herself from the wall to face the investigator. “What bullshit are you on now, dude?” Minhee asked. Vanderwood was standing in front of her, their electric quinque from last time pointed right at her. Minhee tried not to let her fear show. “I don’t know a Choi Minhee.” 

Vanderwood sighed. “Alright, play dumb if you want. It’s not going to stop me from doing my job.” Electricity began to spark from the end of their quinque, and Minhee’s eyes widened. Next thing she knew, she was diving out of the way as a blast of electricity slammed into the wall behind her. 

“You’re quick,” Vanderwood commented as Minhee jumped away from another shot. “You would’ve made a fine investigator.” 

Minhee was running around in a circle trying to avoid the electric blasts that she didn’t doubt would be a one hit KO. She could smell burning from where the ends of her hair had gotten singed. Her foot caught on a rock and she flew to the ground, grunting as heat crackled above her from another missed shot. 

Looking over, Minhee saw Vanderwood aiming at her again, and she knew she didn’t have time to get up and get out of the way. She sighed, and braced herself for the pain. 

But then she heard the skidding of feet against asphalt, and opened her eyes to see Jaehee standing in front of her. 

“Doe, I should’ve expected you to come in and defend her,” Vanderwood said. Behind Jaehee, Minhee scrambled to her feet, wincing at the scrapes on her legs from her rather ungraceful fall onto the asphalt. 

“Are you alright?” Jaehee asked Minhee as she moved up to stand next to her. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she lashed her whip back and forth, “let’s take care of this.” 

Now with Jaehee by her side, Minhee was no longer stuck to solely defense. She and Jaehee worked as a team, with Jaehee acting as the heavy hitter while Minhee went in for sneak hits, taking advantage of Vanderwood’s distraction. 

The problem was that Vanderwood was a formidable opponent. For every hit they landed on the investigator, they managed to land two more on Jaehee. Minhee, for the most part, had avoided most injury from Vanderwood. Which was good because while Jaehee had a healing factor, Minhee did not. But Minhee could tell Jaehee was getting tired. 

The dark-haired woman’s movements were growing sluggish, her reaction time delaying as she continued to throw herself at Vanderwood. Her arms were covered in burns from the quinque, and her breathing was heavy. Minhee was getting worried. 

Jumping forward, Jaehee swiped her kagune at Vanderwood’s side, but Vanderwood leapt out of the way just in time sending Jaehee rolling to the ground. Vanderwood then aimed their quinque at Jaehee again, and Jaehee dead dropped to the ground as the blast went sailing over her head. Minhee ran up towards Vanderwood while their quinque was recharging, and sliced down their back with her whip. Vanderwood whirled around and she wasn’t able to move out of the way in time, and she felt an iron grip wrap around her wrist. 

Vanderwood began to push her arm back, and she whimpered as her whip clattered to the floor. The muscles in her hand were screaming as her hand was pushed further back than it was supposed to go, and she knew that if she didn’t get them to let go soon they were going to break her wrist. She let out a yelp as something popped, sending a wave of pain up her arm. 

“DON’T TOUCH HER!” She then heard Jaehee yell. Vanderwood smiled. 

Letting go of Minhee’s wrist, Vanderwood pulled out their quinque right as Jaehee leapt toward them, kagune outstretched, and the blast hit Jaehee square in the stomach. She went flying backwards, slamming into the wall of the nearby building so hard it made a dent in the brick. 

“NO!” Minhee screamed. She sprinted over to the woman, kneeling down as she took Jaehee’s head in her lap. Jaehee was conscious at least, and blood trickled out the corner of her mouth. Looking to her abdomen, Minhee hissed when she saw the mess of charred flesh there. 

Minhee heard footsteps. Looking up, she saw Vanderwood approaching them, the now familiar whir of his recharging quinque echoing in her ears. Minhee saw her whip still thrown to the ground a ways away from where she was standing, before looking back down to Jaehee and realizing she was going to need time before she could get up again. 

“V! WE NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!” Minhee yelled, praying V or someone else in the RFA would hear it. 

Vanderwood paused in their approach, raising an eyebrow. “V?” They questioned. 

Before Minhee could even think of a response, a flash of red hair tumbled in front of them. Seven stood guard in front of Minhee and Jaehee, his four tentacles rippling behind him as he faced down Vanderwood. 

“Both of you get out of here. I got this,” Seven ordered. Minhee nodded and scrambled to her feet, before pulling Jaehee up beside her. Jaehee whimpered in pain, clutching her stomach, and Minhee wrapped her arm under Jaehee’s armpit to try and support her as the two women stumbled into an alleyway. 

Behind her, Minhee could hear Seven’s laugh as he began to fight Vanderwood, and Minhee could only hope Seven could handle the investigator by himself. 

Staggering down the shadowed alley, Minhee tried to get as far in as possible so they wouldn’t be found by other investigators while Jaehee recovered. 

“I-I’m okay,” Jaehee gasped, leaning against the wall and grabbing at her injury. 

“No, you’re not,” Minhee told her. “You should sit.” 

Jaehee shook her head. “I’m fine. I just need a minute.” Sweat was pouring down her face and she kept wincing in pain. She was very obviously not fine. 

But Minhee kept quiet, pushing Jaehee’s hair back from her face and rubbing her arm reassuringly as they waited for her healing to kick in. Outside the alley, Minhee could hear the fighting continuing, but she couldn’t tell who was winning and who was losing. 

Minutes passed. The night air was cool against Minhee’s sweat-soaked skin. The only sounds around them were Jaehee’s staggered breathing, and the distant swears of fighting behind them. 

“My healing’s not- it’s not working,” Jaehee stammered, breaking the silence. 

“What?” Minhee asked, eyes wide. “What do you mean it’s not working?” 

“I think I’m too weak right now. It’s done all it can do,” Jaehee explained, screwing her eyes shut. Looking down at her stomach, Minhee could see while the wound was a little better than before, there was still a whole in the middle of Jaehee. 

“How do we fix that? Is there any way we can like, jumpstart your healing or something?” Minhee asked. 

Jaehee shook her head. “The only way to do that would be if I fed. But we’re not exactly in a position to go hunting right now,” she explained. 

Minhee was silent. Jaehee needed to feed, or else she wasn’t going to heal. She glanced back out to the mouth of the alley, and knew it was only minutes before an investigator found them hiding. At the moment, Minhee had no weapon and Jaehee was unable to fight back. They were defenseless. 

Plus, the RFA was already struggling as it was. Without Jaehee, things would most certainly take a turn for the worse. 

“What if… you didn’t need to go hunting?” Minhee asked, her voice quiet. 

Jaehee opened her eyes and gave Minhee a confused look. “I don’t understand.” 

Minhee’s heart was pounding as she pulled down the sleeve of her shirt, exposing her shoulder. “I mean… you have a human right here.” 

Dead silence filled the air between them. Jaehee looked at Minhee’s shoulder, and then to her face, eyes widening and mouth curling into a frown. 

“No.” 

“Jaehee please. They need you out there-” 

“I said no, Minhee. I’m not going to eat from you.” 

“I’ll be fine! You can just take a small bite from my shoulder and then you heal up while I just chill here till the fight’s over!” 

“I can’t do that.” 

“Why not? I’m giving you permission!” 

“Because…” Jaehee winced again, “because I can’t hurt you Minhee.” Her voice was soft, her dark eyes wide and full of pain. 

Minhee took a shaky breath and reached forward to cup Jaehee’s cheek. “And I can’t just sit and watch you die,” she whispered back. Jaehee was quiet, and Minhee leaned forward to kiss her gently. “Please, Jaehee. Help us win this.” She pressed her forehead against the woman’s. 

A breath. 

Two breaths. 

Then, 

“...okay.” 

A relieved smile broke out on Minhee’s face. “Thank you, Jaehee,” Minhee said. She pulled her shirt down a little further, and leaned towards Jaehee. Jaehee pressed her face into Minhee’s shoulder, and Minhee’s heart was pounding as she braced herself for the pain. 

She felt a small kiss be pressed to her skin, before pain flooded her senses. 

It burned. Minhee gasped and dug her fingernails into Jaehee’s arm involuntarily, clenching her teeth to keep from whimpering at the pain. Jaehee pulled away after a moment, blood painting her lips before she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. 

“Thank you,” Jaehee whispered, hand falling to her stomach as the wound healed. Minhee gave her a shaky smile and nodded. 

“Of course,” she whispered back. She didn’t want to look down at her shoulder, so instead she focused on the fresh blood staining her shirt. She was glad she’d thought to wear an old shirt to this fight, because she definitely wasn’t going to be able to wear this ever again. 

Minhee took a step back as Jaehee straightened up, her eyes clearer now that her pain was gone. “How do you feel?” Minhee asked. 

“A lot better,” Jaehee answered. “I’m going to bring you to where V is. That way you’ll be out of the way and out of danger for the rest of the fight.” 

Minhee nodded. Jaehee stepped forward and scooped Minhee into her arms, and Minhee hissed again as her shoulder was jostled, sending another wave of pain through her. 

“Sorry,” Jaehee whispered. 

Then, the two of them were running up the side of the building, jumping onto a fire escape and onto the roof. Minhee closed her eyes and tried to focus on anything but the pain as Jaehee jumped from rooftop to rooftop. 

“Minhee can’t fight anymore, so I’m leaving her with you,” Jaehee said as she landed on the roof where V was observing the fight. 

“Is everything alright?” V asked. Strangely enough, he wasn't wearing a mask. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just kind of missing a chunk of my shoulder but otherwise whole,” Minhee deadpanned, cursing under her breath when Jaehee set her down next to V. He gave Jaehee a curious look, who just gave him a shake of her head that said ‘we’ll explain later’. 

Jaehee then turned to Minhee. “Stay safe, alright?” 

Minhee nodded. “I will if you will,” she said, quirking her mouth in a grin. 

Jaehee gave her a small smile back, before turning and jumping off the roof and back to the fight below. Minhee watched her go, disappearing into the sea of white coats. 

Now left alone with V, Minhee turned to him, and saw he was standing his with eyes closed—most likely focusing on the fight below. 

“V? Can I ask you something?” Minhee nearly whispered, knowing V would hear it. 

“What is it, Minhee?” 

Minhee pushed her bangs back from her face and bit her lip. “Why don’t you fight with the others?” 

V opened his eyes to look at her, and when she met his gaze he quickly looked away. 

“Well I… I was never a very proficient fighter to begin with,” V murmured, not looking at Minhee. 

Minhee frowned. “Yeah but that’s not the only reason, is it? If that was the reason you would’ve gone down to take my place when Jaehee brought me up here, because at the moment we need all the support we can get.” Minhee paused, wondering if she was pushing it too much, but then shook her head and decided to continue. “You don’t have to tell me the real reason if you don’t want to. I understand if it’s personal.” 

V was silent for a moment, shoving his hands in his pockets and closing his eyes again. 

“I cannot form my kagune,” he said softly. 

“You… you can’t?” 

V shook his head. “No. I used to be able to, but about a year and a half ago I got into a fight with another ghoul, and I was severely injured. I was not only temporarily blind, but they damaged my kakuhou as well. That’s the organ that differentiates humans and ghouls. It’s what allows us to heal and form our kagune,” he explained. “The damage was so severe that the kakuhou is unable to heal itself completely. So while most of my regeneration is unaffected, I can no longer form a kagune to defend myself with. So taking that into consideration along with the fact that I’m really not a fighter in the first place, well, it just makes more sense for me to remain on the sidelines.” 

Minhee wasn’t sure how to respond to that. I’m sorry seemed too… trivial. She obviously couldn’t empathize, and she was sure V had already received too much sympathy for this incident. 

So instead she just made a small hum of acknowledgement, and didn’t say anything beyond that. V seemed content with this, lowering his head to focus on the fight once again. 

“Jaehee, go to assist Yoosung near the northeast corner,” V said under his breath, barely loud enough for Minhee to make out. “Zen there is an investigator coming up behind you. Jumin, watch your right.” 

A minute passed. Then V cursed softly. 

“Jaehee, go to Jumin. Zen, go take Jaehee’s place in helping Yoosung. Luciel, are you still alright?” He was silent for a moment. “Okay, hang in there.” 

Things were going downhill. Minhee could tell that by V’s change of tone. Everyone was getting tired, and they were just outnumbered. Minhee desperately wished she could go down and help, but with the wound on her shoulder, she doubted she’d even be able to lift her quinque. 

Then, V gasped sharply. 

“Yoosung, get to Luciel _now_!”

☽☾

V wasn’t someone who showed emotions like fear or anger easily. Instead, he preferred to hide them behind a wall of calm melancholy. As useful as this was for being the leader of an organization—being able to remain calm and level-headed at all times—it infuriated Yoosung. It always felt like he was trying to hide something through these subtle lies. It was suspicious.

But when V ordered Yoosung to get to Seven’s aid, it was the first time in years Yoosung had heard actual panic in that man’s voice. 

So Yoosung didn’t hesitate. Leaping up to a nearby roof, Yoosung ran across parallel to the fight, searching for a head of bright red hair in the middle of it all. When Yoosung spotted his friend, he froze. 

The whole area around Seven and the investigator he was fighting was on fire. It was a literal circle of flame. Yoosung figured it must’ve started from a spark from the electric quinque the investigator was using. 

Looking closer, Yoosung realized it wasn’t just any investigator, but it was Agent Vanderwood. The same investigator who had interrogated Minhee. 

Fuck. 

Yoosung’s shoes were slamming onto the ground before he could think. Straightening up, he saw he’d landed right next to Seven. 

“Get out of here, I got this!” Seven yelled at him. Taking one look at his friend, Yoosung was able to tell he was already in bad shape. His hoodie was charred and torn, and blood was pooling around his feet where he stood. His breathing was heavy, and his kagune were beginning to droop. 

“No you don’t! V ordered me to help so I’m here!” Yoosung yelled back. 

“Dammit Yoosung!” Seven whisper-yelled so Vanderwood wouldn’t hear. “I’m serious, leave!” 

“Why should I? You’re not going to be able to keep this up for much longer!” 

“Because it’s-” Seven cut off when he looked at Yoosung, eyes growing wide behind his glasses. Next thing he knew, he was being tackled onto the ground just as an electric bolt went flying above him. 

“Because it’s dangerous!” Seven finished his sentence, pushing himself off of Yoosung and onto his feet. 

“What, am I witnessing a lover’s quarrel here?” Vanderwood deadpanned. 

“You shut up!” Yoosung snapped as he scrambled to his feet. Another electric bolt had them both jumping in opposite directions. 

Landing on a wall, Yoosung used his momentum to launch himself back towards Vanderwood. However, Vanderwood managed to sidestep just in time, and caught Yoosung by the arm. Vanderwood then threw Yoosung over their head, slamming him into the concrete. 

Head spinning, Yoosung stared up at the invisible stars as a bright light grew in the corner of his vision. Thankfully his instincts kicked back in and he rolled out of the way just in time before another blast hit. Yoosung felt rough arms pulling him back to his feet, and he shot a grateful smile to Seven. 

Seven didn't respond, instead he just turned his gaze to Vanderwood, and began to charge at them head on. Vanderwood charged their quinque up again, and Yoosung sprinted over to the investigator on the side they weren’t looking at. When he got close enough, he jumped up again and sent his foot flying into Vanderwood’s face. 

Vanderwood grunted and knelt down, holding their hand to their jaw as Yoosung landed a bit behind them. Seven took the opportunity to continue his charge, and when he got close, he used one of his tentacles to stab Vanderwood right through their left leg. Then he poised the other three to aim right at Vanderwood’s face. 

Yoosung’s eyes widened when he saw Vanderwood’s quinque light up from the hand they were holding behind their back. 

“NO WAIT-” The blast blinded Yoosung, and he had to shield his face as Seven went flying backwards. Opening his eyes again, he saw Seven’s head lol to the side. He sprinted over to his friend, and Yoosung watched as Seven’s kagune retracted, his unconscious body falling into Yoosung’s lap. 

His throat hurt, and he realized after a second that he was screaming. 

Crystallizing his kagune, Yoosung sent a few shards of the ‘crystal’ right at Vanderwood, one large chunk landing in their shoulder. They cried out, but their steps didn’t falter, and aimed the quinque right at the two boys. 

Then, Yoosung heard a familiar voice. 

“You assholes need some help?” 

Looking up, Yoosung gasped when he saw the rooftops across from the cafe lined with cloaked figures. The fighting came to a slow as the doves realized they were surrounded by these newcomers. 

And at the front stood Unknown, his white hair shockingly bright against the dark sky. 

He lifted his hand into the air and held it there for a moment. Then, it fell to his side, and a wave descended. 

The Mint Eye ghouls poured down into the street where the fight was taking place, their dark cloaks reminding Yoosung of living shadows as they took on the remaining doves. A pair of boots thudded on asphalt, and Yoosung looked forward to see Unknown standing in front of Vanderwood. 

“And who the hell are you supposed to be?” Vanderwood asked, putting a hand on their hip as they looked over the newcomer. 

“You can call us Mint Eye,” Unknown said. Then, his kagune appeared, and one swipe sent Vanderwood in the air, before hitting the brick wall with the same force their quinque had sent Seven flying. Vanderwood slid to the ground, body slumped over and quinque rolling away. They were unconscious. 

Unknown turned to look at Yoosung. . 

“Don’t mention this to anyone. Ever.” 

Yoosung nodded and just like that, Unknown had disappeared back into the fighting. 

Now safe from any impending threats, Yoosung looked down to Seven, who was just stirring into consciousness. His entire right arm was burnt, along with a good portion of his upper chest. Yoosung could see more small burns around his body, and he knew Seven was in no shape to get up again. 

“Y-Yoosung?” Seven’s voice was so hoarse, it was barely a whisper. 

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m gonna get you out of here,” Yoosung reassured him. Pushing himself to his feet, Yoosung reached down to pick Seven up as gently as possible. He grunted at how heavy Seven was, but he was able to get him up and in his arms after a bit of effort. 

Looking up to the building Seven had crashed into, Yoosung took a deep breath before sprinting full force towards the wall. Then, using both his legs and his kagune, Yoosung managed to push himself and Seven to the roof. 

Gasping when he landed on the gravel, Yoosung spared one last glance down at the fighting. With Mint Eye’s help, the tide had turned completely, with the investigators being pushed back. They could spare Yoosung and Seven for now. 

Turning heel, Yoosung began to sprint as fast as he could away from the cafe. He wasn’t sure where he was heading, just knowing he needed to get as far from the fighting as possible. 

It was awkward, running with Seven in his arms. He had run with Minhee on his back before, but it was a lot easier to carry someone on your back than bridal style in your arms, and also Minhee was much smaller than Seven. But Yoosung did the best he could, trying to keep from moving Seven as much as possible as the sounds of fighting grew distant behind them. 

His heart was pounding out of his chest, and his legs felt like they were on fire, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting his best friend to safety. That was it. He wasn’t going to let Seven die. He couldn’t let that happen. He _wouldn’t_. 

“Yoosung,” Seven said after a bit, his voice a bit louder than before, “can-can you stop for a minute? I need a breather.” 

Skidding to a halt, Yoosung looked around to see if they were a safe distance, and realized he’d run several blocks in only a few minutes. He was breathing so hard he couldn’t speak, so instead he just nodded as he set Seven down as gently as possible, sitting him up against the fence of the roof and settling down across from him. 

The two sat, Yoosung gasping for air, Seven gasping in small fits of pain. Yoosung took off his mask and set it to the side, and then did the same for Seven. As time passed, Yoosung’s heart rate began to calm, and he felt the pain in his lungs begin to fade. Without the pain of the running, all that left Yoosung with was the leftover fear from the battle they’d come so close to losing. 

Then his eyes settled on Seven’s arm, and his eyes began to water. 

“Are you going to be okay?” He asked in a voice thick with tears. 

Seven looked down to his arm, winced, and then nodded. “Yeah, it’ll heal. I just need a bit of downtime,” Seven reassured him. 

Yoosung looked at the wound again, and wasn’t so sure. “That looks really bad though,” Yoosung whispered, reaching out to touch it and then thinking better of it and pulling his hand back. “How do you know it’ll heal? Are you sure I don’t need to go get food for you?” 

Seven sighed and shook his head. “Trust me, Yoosung. I’m fine. I’ve healed from worse before.” 

Worse? Than this? When would Seven have gotten injured that badly before? 

Yoosung knew it wasn’t the time to bombard him with these questions. So instead he just sighed before speaking again. 

“Okay, if you’re sure,” he whispered, looking at his hands in his lap. They were shaking. “I just can’t lose you, Luciel.” 

Yoosung felt a hand on his, and looked up to see Seven grabbing Yoosung’s hand with his good arm. 

“Can you do me a favor, Yoosung?” He asked. Yoosung nodded. “I can’t be Luciel or Seven right now. Can you just… can you call me by my real name? Saeyoung?” 

His name was Saeyoung. It fit him. 

“Yeah, of course, Saeyoung,” Yoosung told him softly. He felt Saeyoung’s hand squeeze his trembling one, and looked up to see Saeyoung staring at him with an unreadable expression. He seemed relieved but also… sad. And afraid. 

“Can I hug you?” Yoosung asked him after a moment. 

Saeyoung snorted. “Of course you can hug me, you nerd.” 

Yoosung took the invitation immediately, wrapping his arms around Saeyoung’s shoulders while being careful to avoid his injury. He felt Saeyoung wrap his good arm around Yoosung’s waist, and Yoosung buried his face in the redhead’s shoulder as he took a few shaky breaths. 

“You shouldn’t have come to help me,” Saeyoung said after a few moments of hugging. 

Yoosung didn’t pull back, and his voice was muffled by Saeyoung’s shirt. “I had to. If I hadn’t, you would’ve been hurt way more than this.” 

Saeyoung sighed. “But you could’ve gotten really really badly hurt. It wasn’t worth the risk.” 

This time Yoosung did pull back, but only enough so he could press his forehead against Saeyoung’s. 

“What part of ‘I can’t lose you’ do you not understand, Saeyoung?” Yoosung asked, raising an eyebrow at his best friend. “It was totally worth the risk, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” 

“But why me?” 

Yoosung felt a pang in his chest at the pure honesty of Saeyoung’s question. He brought his hands up to hold Saeyoung’s face, and while he knew this probably wasn’t the best time, Saeyoung’s arms around his waist were so warm and he needed comfort _so badly_ right now. 

“You’re my best friend, and one of the most important people in my life. Is that really so hard to believe?” Yoosung whispered. 

Saeyoung winced. “I guess… I guess it’s not,” he relented. 

Yoosung smiled, and brushed his thumb across Saeyoung’s cheekbone. Saeyoung melted into the touch, and closed his eyes before he brought one of his hands up to cup Yoosung’s cheek. 

He opened his eyes, and Yoosung met his gaze as Saeyoung ran his hand down Yoosung’s jaw. It was completely silent between them, until Saeyoung hissed quietly in pain. 

“Is there anything I can do to help you, Saeyoung? Anything you want?” Yoosung whispered. Saeyoung’s fingers were still brushing along his jaw, and it was sending shivers down Yoosung’s spine. 

“No, I…” Saeyoung’s voice was soft as he hesitated. His fingers moved from Yoosung’s jaw to his chin, before his thumb ran along Yoosung’s bottom lip. “I want something, but it’s selfish.” 

Yoosung’s heart was pounding, and he could feel Saeyoung’s soft breath against his face. 

“Tell me what it is. Maybe it’s not as selfish as you think.” 

Their faces were so close now, there was barely an inch of space between them. Yoosung could hear his blood roaring in his ears. 

“I want to kiss you, Yoosung,” Saeyoung whispered against his lips. 

“That’s not selfish at all,” Yoosung whispered back. 

Then Yoosung leaned forward to close the space between them. 

The kiss was awkward and clumsy, with Yoosung trying to be mindful of Saeyoung’s injuries and the exhaustion weighing both of them down, but it was so _so_ soft. It was sweet and shy and everything a first kiss should be. Saeyoung used his good hand to rub small circles into Yoosung’s side, while Yoosung ran his hands down the uninjured parts of Saeyoung’s chest. 

After a few moments Saeyoung pulled back, wincing when his arm shifted. 

“Shit, are you okay?” Yoosung asked, shifting off of his place half on Saeyoung’s lap. 

“I mean my arm nearly got blown off but besides that?” Saeyoung opened his eyes and grinned, before leaning forward to press another peck to Yoosung’s lips. “I’m doing great.” 

Yoosung laughed. “Me too.” 

And it was the truth. The fear he’d been feeling just moments ago was gone now, leaving just a warm feeling in his chest that wouldn’t go away. 

A distant crash sounded, and suddenly Yoosung remembered where they were and what was going on. 

“Hey, we shouldn’t stay here for too much longer,” he said, glancing around and grabbing his mask. 

“My place isn’t too far from here,” Saeyoung said, coughing a bit. 

Yoosung nodded. “Alright, let’s go there then,” he decided, pushing himself to his feet. He slid his mask over his face, and handed Saeyoung's to him. “I gotta lift you up, okay? It’s probably gonna hurt.” 

“Oh, my knight in shining armor!” Saeyoung cooed, holding a hand to his forehead. Yoosung snorted, rolling his eyes as he bent down and gently picked Saeyoung up. He grunted at the effort, and Saeyoung hissed a bit in pain, but the two managed it well enough. 

Once standing, Yoosung looked down at Saeyoung. “You ready?” He asked. 

“Can I get a kiss for good luck?” Saeyoung asked, batting his eyelashes. 

Yoosung snorted again. “You’re such a nerd,” he told him, before leaning down to meet Saeyoung’s lips again.

☽☾

With the help of Mint Eye, the battle took a turn.

The investigators were pushed back by the combined forces of the cloaked Mint Eye members and the RFA, and soon enough they were forced to retreat. Since Minhee couldn’t tell much of what was going on from her perch on the roof, V continuously updated her as best he could. 

When the last dove had finally fled, they were left with a bloodstained storefront, a few dead bodies, and about fifty ghouls in cloaks. 

Unknown stood in the center of the street, the cloaked ghouls surrounding him. Minhee could just make out the dark head of Jumin walking over to speak with him. 

“V, what are they saying?” Minhee asked, turning to the RFA’s leader. 

“Jumin is thanking Unknown for the help,” V said, his eyes closed as he focused on their conversation. “In return, Unknown is saying…” V trailed off, and Minhee saw his jaw clench. 

“Is everything alright?” Minhee asked softly. “What is Unknown saying?” 

V shook his head. “Everything is fine. Unknown just said that it wasn’t his choice, it was his…” he then winced, and Minhee frowned. “He said it was his Savior’s decision to help us.” 

“Savior?” Minhee questioned. 

V opened his eyes. “I don’t know. I suppose that’s the way Mint Eye refers to their leader,” V explained, though something was off in his voice. 

Minhee snorted. “Sounds like a cult,” she commented. “Wonder if they’re accepting-” her joke was cut off when all the cloaked figures began to move like a wave, towards the line of rooftops they had appeared on. One by one they ran up the buildings, disappearing into the horizon like a hive mind. Minhee lost sight of Unknown, but figured he had left as well. 

It seemed the battle was over. Once the remaining cloaked figures had run away, this left only the RFA standing in the street in front of their cafe. 

“Should we go down there?” Minhee asked. 

“Yes, let’s get down there and brief with the others,” V said, turning to her. 

Minhee nodded and pushed herself to her feet. “I’m ready whenever you are,” she said. 

“Alright, climb on my back and I’ll jump-” V was cut off when a tentacle erupted from his chest, and blood spattered onto Minhee’s shirt. 

V looked down at his stomach, when the tentacle disappeared. Then, before either of them could say anything, a boot kicked V in the back, sending him tumbling over the edge of the roof and to the ground. 

Minhee screamed. 

“V! V NO!” She ran over to the edge to see where he’d had fallen, when something pricked her neck. Suddenly, her head felt light and black dots began to dance across her vision. The roof spun around her, and her body began to tip over the edge when a rough hand grabbed her and pulled her into their arms. 

“No… get away from me…” Minhee wanted to scream and fight, but her body wasn’t responding. A heaviness had taken hold in her body and her mind, and it was growing stronger with each passing second. 

She fell limp into the strangers arms, her head lolling as she was thrown over her attackers shoulder. 

“Where are you taking me?” She asked, her voice so soft even she had a hard time hearing it. 

The spots across her vision began to grow, and the last thing she saw was a shock of white hair as her attacker answered.

“We’re taking you to Paradise.” 

And then she was lost in the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELCOME TO THE END OF ACT 1 THINGS ARE FUCKING WACK
> 
> hoooo boyyy I have had this planned out for so long now it feels so good to finally be writing this part
> 
> ANYWAY so if you thought the part with Minhee letting Jaehee take a little bite out of her was gross I'm sorry but also I literally got inspo from that from Tokyo Ghoul when Kaneki let Touka take that little nibble of him when she was fighting Tsukiyama so like this is just canon material yall
> 
> also YOOSEVEN KISS YOOSEVEN KISS I have been wanting to write that for SO LONG my yooseven heart is DEPRIVED I SWEAR TO GOD I hope u guys liked that I worked real hard to make it good
> 
> oh and lemme just clarify V's not dead he's just gonna need some healing time after that
> 
> SO I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!! please please let me know what you thought down in the comments, every comment on this fic makes my day guys :))))) ily all
> 
> feel free to scream at me on tumblr: cactusskiddo.tumblr.com


	14. I've been watching you for some time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The CCG has a new objective, the RFA is struggling in the wake of Minhee's disappearance, and Minhee wakes up in an unfamiliar place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY GUYS IM BACK
> 
> so i wrote like 90% of this chapter in a single day and then the last chunk of it i wrote sitting in my mom's office because i had nothing to do while she was working so hooray for tagging along on business trips
> 
> anyway thank you all so much for your comments on the last chapter!!! I'm so glad you guys enjoyed it!!! This fic is insanely fun for me to write and I'm really glad this 100% self indulgent au is entertaining to the rest of you
> 
> act 2 is officially starting with this chapter and lots of fun things are starting up so I hope you guys enjoy! the title for this chapter was taken from billie eilish's song 'ocean eyes' 
> 
> hope you guys enjoy!!!

It was Monday morning bright and early, the new start to a typical work week. And Vanderwood was spending this morning giving a presentation on everything that went wrong that past Friday. 

“At 20:00 exactly I gave the order to begin the raid on the RFA cafe. The raid consisted of 4 investigator squads including my own, all assigned to the East Sector. Upon approach of the cafe, we saw six of the seven known members of the RFA. Phantom, Doe, Black Cat, One Eye, Jester, and Butterfly. The seventh member, Helios, who is thought to be the leader of the RFA, was not seen. Helios has not been seen for a year and a half now, but until we get confirmation of his status we will refer to him as alive and leading the RFA.

“For the first half of the fight, our forces progressed steadily. While we took light casualties, we were managing to push the ghouls back as we got closer and closer to the cafe. However, halfway through the fight, another ghoul organization known as ‘Mint Eye’ appeared to provide aid to the RFA. Previously, we were unaware of the existence of Mint Eye. They had about 50 ghouls in their ranks, and the CCG was forced into retreat as a result.” Vanderwood bowed their head as they finished the presentation, nodding to the board members sitting around the conference table. 

Two men sitting at the head of the table nodded, and turned to each other to speak quietly for a moment. Vanderwood stood with their good arm held behind their back, with the other arm in a sling, a large bandage over their shoulder. The two men looked to Vanderwood before turning back to each other to murmur a few more things. Then, they spoke aloud. 

“Associate Special Class Vanderwood?” The man on the right, Mr. Kwon, said. 

“Yes sir?” 

“You are hereby promoted to Special Class.” 

Vanderwood blinked. “But the raid was a failure, sir?” 

The man waved a hand. “Yes, we’re aware of that. But that was due to the appearance of a previously unknown ghoul organization. Until then, the raid was going successfully. Not to mention, even with 50 additional ghouls you still managed to minimize casualties. To us, that’s still a limited success.” 

“Oh… thank you, sir,” Vanderwood said, bowing deeply. Of all things to result from this raid, a promotion was the least expected of all. “I will make sure you do not regret this decision.” 

“We know you won’t,” the man on the left, Mr. Singh, said. “But let’s not waste time focusing on that. Now we must focus on what’s really important, which is the new ghoul organization that was previously unknown to us.” 

“We want you to find information on this Mint Eye for us,” Mr. Kwon continued, “find out who they are, what their numbers are, who leads them, and how much of a threat they pose. Your work on the RFA Cafe is postponed for the time being, as Mint Eye seems to be a much larger threat to the CCG than a few ghouls who run a coffee shop.” 

Vanderwood nodded. “I understand, and will obtain the information you require.” 

Both men smiled at Vanderwood. “Great. Then this meeting is adjourned.” 

The room was filled with the sound of rustling paper and hushed voices as everyone gathered their things. Vanderwood placed their files in their briefcase, and made their way out of the room. 

Stepping into the hallway, Vanderwood leaned against the wall for a moment and took a deep breath. Special Class, huh? They liked the sound of that. 

Just then, Vanderwood heard footsteps, and saw Mr. Singh walking towards them. They locked eyes with their boss as he approached, and when they were face to face, Mr. Singh took Vanderwood’s good hand in his own.

“Congrats on the promotion,” he said, shaking Vanderwood’s hand. At Vanderwood’s confused expression, he leaned in closer. “From one Englishman to another, you must admit that nothing can replace a good handshake,” he continued in a lower voice, switching from Korean to English. 

“Yes, I suppose so,” Vanderwood agreed, also speaking in English. 

Their boss then leaned in further, and Vanderwood felt a piece of paper being slipped into their hand. “If you are having trouble getting the information on Mint Eye we require, don’t be afraid to go to some… unusual sources.” 

Then he stepped back and clapped Vanderwood on their good shoulder, letting go of their hand. “Keep up the good work, Special Class,” Mr. Singh said, switching back to Korean. And before Vanderwood could ask any further questions, Mr. Singh had disappeared. 

Looking down, Vanderwood opened up their hand to see the piece of paper they had been handed. It had a name and email written on it, with the words ‘he can get you what you need’ written in English beneath it. 

Vanderwood folded the piece of paper back up and slipped it in their pocket. They needed information on Mint Eye, and fast. If this was the way their boss wanted them to get it, then they could only hope this mystery person didn’t charge too much.

☽☾

**Debriefing of RFA Raid - Ghoul Files**

_Due to information gained on the raid of the RFA cafe, these ghoul files have been updated with the latest ratings for the ghouls of the RFA, and a new ghoul that is a part of the organization called Mint Eye._

**One Eye  
Male  
Ukaku  
Previously Rate B  
Updated to Rate A~**

**Doe  
Female  
Rinkaku  
Rate S**

**Phantom  
Male  
Koukaku  
Previously Rate A~  
Updated to Rate S**

**Black Cat  
Male  
Bikaku  
Previously Rate B  
Updated to Rate A**

**Butterfly  
Female  
Unknown Kagune  
Rate B**

**Jester  
Male  
Rinkaku  
Previously Rate B  
Updated to Rate S+ **

**Unknown  
Male  
Rinkaku  
Rate SS**

☽☾

Minhee was lying in an unusually soft bed. 

When her eyes fluttered open, she was met with bright sunlight streaming in through an open window. Wincing at the brightness, Minhee rolled over and buried her face in her pillow, wanting nothing more than to sleep for just a little while longer. She took a deep breath before sighing into the pillow, and smelled perfume. 

That wasn’t her perfume.

Bolting upright, Minhee immediately felt a thudding pain in her head and yelped. Burying her face in her knees and squeezing her eyes shut, she waited a few seconds for the pain to fade.

Opening her eyes again, she lifted her head slower this time and realized she wasn’t in her room at home. 

The room around her looked like it could’ve been made for a princess doll. The bed was huge and covered in baby pink sheets, which explained how strangely comfortable it was compared to Minhee’s bed at home. There were two pink chairs around a small pink table in the center of the room, along with an empty flower vase in the center of the table. Above that was a small chandelier that was turned off, and a large pink armoire was settled near the door. Off to the side there was a smaller door, which Minhee guessed was a bathroom. 

Minhee had never seen this place before in her life. 

Where had she been before this? 

It took her still half-drugged brain a moment to remember what had been going on, but suddenly her minds eye was filled with V’s horrified face as his blood spattered all over her, and everything came flooding back. 

She was at Mint Eye. 

“Holy shit,” Minhee muttered, looking around the room with wide eyes. She looked down at herself and saw she was still wearing the same blood stained shirt, but there was a large swath of gauze and bandaging around her shoulder from where Jaehee had bitten her. 

“Hello?” Minhee called out, looking around the room. “Is anyone here?” 

There was silence. 

Frowning, Minhee pushed herself out of the bed and to her feet and black spots began to fill her vision as dizziness overwhelmed her. Gasping, Minhee grabbed onto the night stand next to the bed, and waited a few moments for the black spots to fade. Once she was okay again, she carefully let go of the nightstand and made her way over to what she guessed was the bathroom. 

Opening the door, her suspicions were confirmed that the bathroom was also entirely pink. 

After taking care of her business, Minhee was washing her hands in the sink when she glanced up into the mirror and paused. 

Dirt was smudged across her face, and bruises were lined all up and down her arms. Her shirt was soaked in blood, and some of it had gotten on her face as well. Dark circles hung heavily under her eyes, and her cheeks were sunken in like an elderly person. 

Suffice to say, she looked like shit. 

Grunting, Minhee splashed some water on her face in an attempt to clear her thoughts and look a bit less horrible. Then she stumbled her way back into the center of the room and was debating whether or not to try the door out of the room, when she heard a harsh knocking that sent her jumping backwards. 

“Hey! Are you awake yet?” A familiar voice shouted. 

Minhee blinked from where she was gripping the edge of the bed, and took a shaky breath to calm herself. 

“I-I’m awake,” she called out, her voice a bit hoarse. 

It was silent on the other side of the door before it swung open, revealing Unknown. Except this time, he wasn’t wearing the bandana around his face. Surprisingly he looked… just like a normal dude. There was something about him though that seemed familiar, however Minhee couldn’t place it. 

“Jesus fuck you look like shit,” Unknown commented, glancing her up and down.

Minhee rolled her eyes. “Thanks, I’m aware,” she deadpanned. “Not like you kidnapped me or anything. Or possibly killed my friend.” She was aware she should probably be a little more afraid of her kidnapper, but at the moment she had a headache and was hungry and overall was just annoyed. 

Unknown scoffed. “V is fine. I didn’t injure him enough to kill him, even with his damaged regeneration. I just needed him out of the way,” he said gruffly. “Anyway we don’t have time to get into that right now. There are some clothes in the closet right there that should fit you so put them on and let me know when you’re ready, we have somewhere to be.” Minhee was relieved at least to hear that V was likely alright, but that begged the question of how Unknown seemed to know about his damaged abilities. 

That wasn’t the biggest issue right now though. Minhee decided she would ask about that later. 

“Where are we going?” Minhee asked instead, narrowing her eyes at Unknown. 

“To see the Savior,” he answered, reaching out to close the door. “Now hurry up. I don’t want to have to dress you myself.” The door slammed shut and Minhee winced at the noise. 

Honestly, Minhee wasn’t sure what to do in this situation. She had been kidnapped after all, and just complying with your kidnappers wishes wasn’t always the best thing to do. But also she was probably surrounded by at least 50 ghouls right now, and if she wanted to keep all her organs she should probably go along with what they told her to. 

She had no idea what they wanted with her. That was the only part that scared her. She didn’t know what the goals of Mint Eye were, or what their opinions on humans was. She had no clue who this ‘Savior’ was, or what they were going to be like. For all she knew, she could be the main course to the Savior’s dinner. 

Minhee glanced to the windows, and stepped over to them. She was on the second story of a building, she could tell that much. Her room was overlooking what appeared to be some kind of flower garden, but she couldn’t see anyone walking around out there. 

She tried to open the windows but they were locked. She debated picking a chair up to try and see if she could break it, but Unknown was right outside the door and would definitely hear that which wouldn’t end well for her. 

She really had no options here. 

Sighing, Minhee made her way to the closet and opened it up to see what her options were. There was an array of women’s clothing hanging up neatly inside, and when Minhee checked all of the items were in her size. That was weird. There was a small shelf with drawers in the closet as well, and when she opened it up she found underwear and bras that were all in her size as well. Also very weird. 

Minhee grabbed a button-up blue blouse that looked comfortable enough to wear over her bandaged shoulder, and paired it with a flowy white skirt. She found several pairs of shoes sitting next to the closet as well, and again they were all her shoe size. She picked a pair of nude flats and gave herself a once over in the bathroom mirror. She still looked like shit, but a little less so than before at least. 

“Can you go any slower?” Unknown asked from outside the door. 

Rolling her eyes, Minhee pulled the door open. “In case you forgot, I’m injured,” she said, giving him an unimpressed look. 

“How could I forget? I’m the one who bandaged your fucking shoulder,” he muttered before turning around and walking down the hallway. 

Minhee blinked. He bandaged her shoulder? The idea of the gruff Unknown carefully bandaging her injury while she was unconscious seemed… out of character. 

Wait, he was walking away. 

Shutting the door behind her, Minhee scurried to catch up with him, wincing when the sudden movement jostled her injury. He didn’t turn around to make sure she was following, he could probably tell through his ghoul senses. 

Unknown led her through a maze of hallways that had so many twists and turns Minhee got turned around in minutes. As they walked, they passed several other people, all wearing dark cloaks with hoods that covered their faces. Whenever they passed these people, the cloaked figures would nod to Unknown, muttering a soft ‘for paradise’ under their breaths. Unknown never responded to this, just kept his eyes straight forward as he led Minhee through the building. 

After a bit of walking, Minhee was getting tired. 

“Jesus christ this place is big,” she commented, looking out some windows that revealed the garden once again. “What does the Savior even want with me? If I’m walking this much just to be eaten as some ghoul’s dinner I’m gonna be real pissed.” Unknown didn’t respond, so Minhee decided to keep talking. “Like, I get it you want your meals to be all fit or whatever but I’m injured right now so this much walking is just gonna make me sweaty and I’m sure sweaty food doesn’t taste all that good. You should at least have let me shower before taking me because I’m sure I’m covered in a ton of gross dirt and blood that isn’t gonna taste all that goo-”

“JESUS CHRIST CAN YOU SHUT UP?!” Unknown shouted, cutting her off. Minhee fell silent, watching as Unknown took a deep breath, clenching his fist. “The Savior is not going to eat you, okay? Now, shut the fuck up before I throw you out a window.” 

Minhee was _so_ fucking tempted to make another smartass retort, but she decided Unknown might not be exaggerating so she kept her mouth shut. At least she learned that she’s not about to be dinner. Well, for now. 

It was only a bit more walking before Unknown led her to a pair of tall, gold-accented, elegant looking doors. Unknown stepped forward and pushed them open with little effort, and led Minhee into the room.

☽☾

The coffee shop Vanderwood had been told to come to was surprisingly crowded. 

Shortly after receiving the contact information from Mr. Singh, Vanderwood had sent an email to the mystery person explaining that they needed information and was given the email by a friend. Not even half an hour later they had received a response telling them to meet at a coffee shop in the North Sector at 2pm. 

It was 2:03pm when Vanderwood stepped inside the shop. They looked around, ignoring the loud murmurings of the other patrons as they searched for the back corner table the person had told them to meet at. When they spotted the table, they saw a figure hunched over a laptop, facing away from them. 

That must be him. 

Making their way through the cafe, Vanderwood kept their head down and tried not to make eye contact. Technically what they were doing was illegal, but the CCG needed this information desperately. Mint Eye seemed much more powerful than the RFA, and the fact that the CCG had never even heard of their existence until now was frightening. For all they knew, the ghouls could have an ambush planned on the CCG already, and they would be helpless. 

The hunched over man didn’t even look up as Vanderwood approached. They noticed a pair of headphones over his ears underneath the black hood of his sweatshirt, and debated whether or not they should tap him on the shoulder. 

Thankfully, they were spared the decision because the person looked up right at that moment. He must’ve realized Vanderwood was the person he was meeting with, because his bright golden eyes widened and he hurriedly pushed the orange headphones and black hood off his head, revealing a head of vibrant red hair. 

“Are you 707?” Vanderwood asked, raising an eyebrow at the boy. 

The boy flashed them a sharp grin. “707 at your service!” He said, tipping an imaginary hat at them. 

“Good,” Vanderwood said, sitting down across from him. “I’m Sp-” they cut themself off, realizing they probably shouldn’t reveal they work for the CCG, or what their name is. “You can call me… Stark,” they said instead. 

They’d always hated the name Vanderwood. It was such a mouthful, and sounded so stuffy. Stark had always been a name they had admired, and decided if they had to use an alias around 707, Stark would work just fine. 

707 smirked at this for some reason, and he closed his laptop to lean back in his seat. “Alright _Stark_ ,” he began, “tell me, what information do you need me to get you? Is it business? Personal? You want an ex's new address or your old coworkers bank account number? Whatever it is, if it can be found online I can get it for you.” 

So he’s a hacker. Vanderwood isn’t sure how helpful that will be considering Mint Eye might not have that much information online, but Mr. Singh recommended this guy to them himself, so he must be what Vanderwood is looking for. 

“This is for a business related matter,” Vanderwood said, keeping their words careful. “I need you to look into an organization called Mint Eye for me. Whatever information you can dig up about them will be useful. I want to know how many members there are, who runs the institution, what their goals are, whatever you can find out. Of course you will be paid handsomely for your help in this endeavor, so don’t worry about that.” 

707’s eyes lit up at that, his smirk only growing. “Mint Eye, huh? Do you have anything you can tell me about the organization yourself? Since I kind of have nothing to go off of besides the name.” 

Vanderwood sighed and leaned across the table. “I can tell you more, but we have to be quiet so others don’t overhear,” they whispered. 

“What if we just,” 707 paused and mimed pressing a button on his head, like a robot switching settings, “switched to another language?” He asked, switching to fluent English. 

Vanderwood nodded, a bit surprised that this kid hacker knew multiple languages. “Alright, English it is,” they said, switching themself, “now, keep this quiet but Mint Eye is an organization of ghouls.” 

“Ghouls?” 707 asked, raising a brow. Vanderwood nodded. “Alright, ghoul organization. Got it. Anything else you know?” 

“Unfortunately we don’t have anything besides that. My own organization was completely unaware of their existence until an… incident, a few nights ago.” 

707 nodded, and opened up his laptop again to type something. “Alright, I’ll try to find what I can on them. We can talk about pricing and stuff after I’ve gotten you what you need.” 

“Aren’t you afraid I won’t pay you for your services?” Vanderwood asked, frowning. 

“Nope!” 707 answered, pushing himself to his feet and pulling a backpack up from under the table. “You forget, I’m a master at finding information. That includes your information, ‘Stark’. If you try to screw me over, I can just freeze your bank account or hack your social media, or even send an email to your boss telling you what you really think of them.” 

Vanderwood’s expression hardened. “You don’t even know my name.” 

Now this made 707 laugh. “You emailed me, remember? That alone is enough to give me access to exactly who you are, who you work for, and anything else I want to find on you.” He put his laptop in his bag and zipped it up, before swinging it over his shoulder. “By the way, I saw you just got promoted. So congrats, Special Class.” He threw another sharp grin at Vanderwood before turning around and making his way out of the cafe, leaving Vanderwood alone. 

Fuck. _Fuck._ Of course he had looked Vanderwood up before they had gotten there. That was idiotic of them to think he wouldn’t have. Shit. They would just have to hope he could keep his mouth shut, but concerning the nature of his business, that probably wouldn’t be an issue. 

As they watched the redheaded boy step out the door of the cafe, they couldn’t help but think of how familiar 707’s voice seemed to be.

☽☾

Seven’s shoes clicked against the dark tile floor, echoing off the walls of the foyer of the apartment building as he made his way to the elevator. He pressed the button and stared at the swirling crystal of the chandelier with a blank expression as he waited for the elevator to arrive. 

The ding made him turn around, and he stepped inside the smooth black doors, pulling out the keycard Jumin had given him to swipe it before pressing the penthouse button. 

Seven leaned against the wall of the elevator, watching the numbers go up with tired eyes. He couldn’t believe his day so far. Of all the people who could’ve contracted him for information work, it was none other than Vanderwood themself. He knew they would blow a gasket if they knew they had just had a civil conversation with Jester, but they didn’t know and that was what was so hilarious about this situation. 

Before Vanderwood had contacted him, Seven had already been planning on getting more information on Mint Eye. Everyone in the RFA knew Minhee’s disappearance was because of them, and they needed to figure out how they were going to find her and get her back. That was why Jumin had called this meeting at his penthouse. None of them could risk returning to the cafe, so until Jumin and V figured out another business venture the RFA was going to be meeting at the penthouse. 

But now that Vanderwood was paying him to get information on Mint Eye? That was even better. Not to mention, this also gave Seven control of what the CCG knew about Mint Eye. Considering Vanderwood, a Special Class agent at the CCG, was going to _him_ for information meant they were desperate. And if they were desperate, that meant they had no other options. So Seven was in complete control of this flow of information. Things couldn’t be better than this. 

Well, a lot could be better, but in terms of the CCG things were going great. 

The elevator dinged while the doors slid open, and Seven stepped into Jumin’s apartment. He had been here before to help Jumin with problems concerning his computer, but it had been a while since his last visit. As he made his way to the living room, he mentally thought that yup, this was just as Extra as his last visit. 

Entering the living room, Seven first spotted Jumin sitting on the white couch, wine glass in hand and cat on his lap. Normally he would’ve squealed at the sight of Elly and fawned over her, but he knew it wasn’t the time to act like that. 

On the side of the couch opposite Jumin sat Jaehee and Zen. Jaehee was nursing a glass of red wine and looking at her lap, while Zen sat beside her and rubbed her back comfortingly. In a chair across from Jumin, V sat with a glass of white wine on the coffee table in front of him. He was hunched over and had his hands in his hair, and didn’t look up as Seven walked in. The only one missing besides Seven was Yoosung. And of course, Minhee herself. 

The tension in the air was palpable. The dark cloud that hung over every member of the RFA was practically visible to the naked eye. 

“Luciel, you made it,” Jumin commented as Seven walked in. 

Seven nodded and set his backpack down, sitting on the smaller side couch next to the main on. “Yeah, I had a meeting with a client so that’s why I’m a bit late. Sorry about that.” 

“It’s alright, Luciel,” V reassured him in a soft voice. “We’re still waiting on Yoosung to arrive as well.” 

Seven gave a quick nod. “Thanks V,” he said quietly. “Do you know where he is?” He hadn’t texted Yoosung since that morning, but he had been expecting Yoosung to arrive to the penthouse before him. 

“I think he’s heading over from school right now. Told me one of his lectures ran long,” Zen chimed in from where he still had his arm around a silent Jaehee. Ah, that made sense. 

Seven’s gaze flitted over to Jaehee, who was staring into her wine glass. “Jaehee? Are you okay?” 

Jaehee looked up and blinked slowly. “No, no I’m not,” she said, before turning back to her wine. 

Seven frowned. Jaehee seemed to be taking Minhee’s disappearance really hard. He knew the two women had been close, but he’d never known how close till he saw the pain in Jaehee’s eyes when they all had realized she was gone. 

Suddenly, Seven felt warm arms around him and saw a flash of blond from the corner of his eye. Yoosung was standing behind the couch and was leaning down to rest his arms around Seven, laying his head on Seven’s shoulder. 

“Hey cutie,” Seven said softly, bringing a hand up to pet the mop of blond hair on his shoulder. 

“Hey Seven,” Yoosung mumbled. He lifted his eyes to look at the others. “Hi guys. Sorry I’m late.” 

“It’s alright, Yoosung. We weren’t waiting long,” V reassured him. 

“Please, sit down so we can begin the meeting,” Jumin continued, gesturing to the spot on the couch next to Seven. Yoosung nodded and stepped around the couch to the other side, and plopped down next to Seven. He rested his head on Seven’s shoulder, and brought his knees up to his chest. Seven saw Zen give the two of them a confused look, before turning his attention back to Jaehee. 

Seven and Yoosung hadn’t mentioned to the RFA their change in relationship yet. Seven was content with just letting them figure it out on their own, and considering they were dealing with much heavier issues at the moment, Yoosung was fine with that as well. 

“To begin our meeting,” Jumin started, pushing himself to his feet to address the others, “I would like to confirm that Minhee is not being held by the CCG. While it was already unlikely, given the nature of V’s injuries, we are now able to fully cross that off the list. Earlier today Luciel was able to gain access to a debriefing on the raid from the CCG, and it listed Butterfly as a still active ghoul meaning they did not capture her.” 

“This means it has to be Mint Eye,” Zen said, narrowing his eyes. 

“I do not doubt that this is Mint Eye’s doing,” Jumin continued, “but we do not know much about Mint Eye as an organization. All we know is that they are a large ghoul organization led by someone called the Savior. We do not know where they are located, or who this ‘Savior’ is.” 

“Well ironically for us, I just got back from a meeting with a new client today, and what I have been hired to do is find as much information on Mint Eye as I possibly can,” Seven chimed in.

“Who’s the client?” Jaehee asked, straightening up in her seat. 

Seven smirked. “None other than our favorite investigator, Special Class Vanderwood themself.” 

Jaehee frowned. “I was under the impression they were an Associate Special Class investigator.” 

“Nope! Got promoted to Special Class this morning,” Seven said, leaning back in his seat. 

“So what you’re telling me,” Jumin cut in, “is that a CCG Special Class investigator has hired you to obtain information on Mint Eye through illegal means?” 

Seven nodded. “They’re desperate,” he explained. 

“Wait, Seven, if you’re their source of information on Mint Eye doesn’t that mean that you can just give them incorrect information and they’ll believe it?” Yoosung asked, sitting up to look at him. 

“Yup. It’s awfully convenient,” Seven said, popping the ‘p’. “Not only am I getting paid to do the exact thing I was already planning on doing, but I’m also gonna be one step ahead of the CCG from now on.” 

“Keep us updated on how that goes,” Jumin instructed. “As soon as we determine where Mint Eye is and how many members there are, we can begin to organize a rescue plan for Minhee.” 

“If she’s not dead by then,” Jaehee muttered under her breath. 

Zen looked at her in horror. “Jaehee don’t say that!” 

“But it’s true,” Jaehee continued, still looking at her wine. “I know we have to stay optimistic but Minhee is trapped in the middle of at least 50 ghouls as a lone human. If by some miracle they haven’t killed her yet, they almost certainly will soon.” She slumped back against the couch and downed the rest of the wine. “And it’s all my fault,” she murmured almost silently. 

Zen put a hand on her arm. “No, Jaehee. I know you think this happened because you had to take a bite from her, but that’s not it. I’m sure Mint Eye was planning to take her before the raid even began.” 

Jaehee didn’t respond, and instead just slumped further into the couch, purposefully avoiding Zen’s gaze. 

“Are Tanya and Irina still watching her apartment and her office?” Yoosung asked after a moment of silence. 

Jumin nodded. “Yes. Tanya has been stationed at Minhee’s apartment in case she unexpectedly goes back there or if anyone comes looking for her, and Irina is doing the same at Minhee’s office. Irina has also spoken to Minhee’s boss, Lee Choyeon, and she has agreed to inform Irina if she gets any word from Minhee at all.” 

Everyone nodded at that, the plan still sounding reasonable to all of them. Seven glanced over to V, who was still hunched over in his seat and not saying much. He figured V must’ve felt guilty for what happened to Minhee, having been the one in charge of protecting her when she had been taken. Of course, V couldn’t be faulted for being ambushed, and with his slowed regeneration it took three days for him to heal completely even with a full stomach so he certainly suffered as a result of the incident. 

“I only have one more thing to announce, and then you shall all be free to leave,” Jumin began, taking a sip of his wine. “As a result of the raid, our territory has been compromised as well as the cafe. As a result, we will be shutting down the RFA Cafe and selling it through a third party. However, we have already put a deposit down for another cafe that’s only a few blocks away. We will have to rename it, but we will be able to continue Rika’s legacy.” 

A sigh of relief went up around the room. Though Minhee was the most important issue, the other most worrying subject of the night was what was going to happen to the cafe. While relocating would be a pain, as well as migrating their customer base, it was a workable situation. 

“Oh thank god I get to keep my job,” Yoosung joked, fiddling with his eyepatch. 

“Is that all?” Jaehee asked suddenly, her voice hoarse. Jumin stared at her for a moment before silently nodding, and she pushed herself to her feet while swaying only a little bit. Zen rushed to her side to help her, and she didn’t try to push him off. “I’m going to go back to my apartment now. Call me if you need me.” 

“I’ll have Driver Kim take you home,” Jumin told her. 

“I think I should go with her, just in case,” Zen said, keeping a hand on her shoulders. 

“I wouldn’t want to be a bother,” Jaehee murmured, resting her forehead on his shoulder. 

“It’s alright, Jaehee. I don’t want to leave you alone like this,” Zen reassured her. Wrapping his arm fully around her, he led her out of the living room and to the elevators, giving the rest of the RFA a wave as the two disappeared down the hall. 

Seven took this as his cue and pushed himself to his feet. “I should probably get going as well,” he said, swinging his backpack over his shoulder. “Yoosung, are you coming to my place?” 

Yoosung nodded, hurriedly shouldering his own bag. “Yeah, if that’s okay.” 

Seven snorted and threw an arm around Yoosung’s waist. “Of course it’s okay, cutie.” Yoosung laughed and leaned into him, and Seven noticed Jumin raise an eyebrow at the display. V didn’t seem to notice however, and kept his eyes locked onto his lap. 

“I’ll keep you updated on the Vanderwood situation and Mint Eye,” Seven told Jumin as he walked down the hall, Yoosung clinging to his side. 

“Thank you, Luciel. Have a safe trip to your home, both of you.” Seven and Yoosung both nodded at Jumin and V, before the elevator doors slid open and the couple stepped inside. 

As soon as the smooth black doors slid shut, Saeyoung slumped down and collapsed against Yoosung, burying his face into the shorter boy’s shoulder. It had been a stressful few days for all of them, and while things were still pretty chaotic, Saeyoung was looking forward to just spending an evening with his boyfriend in peace. 

“Tired?” Yoosung asked softly, running his fingers through Saeyoung’s hair, Saeyoung hummed an affirmative, and Yoosung chuckled. “Me too. When we get to your place do you wanna just cuddle on the couch and watch some anime?” Saeyoung nodded, and he felt Yoosung press a warm kiss to his cheek. “You’re really cute when you’re tired,” Yoosung commented. 

Pulling back a bit, Saeyoung grinned at Yoosung. “You’re the cuter one though,” he teased. 

Yoosung rolled his eyes. “You’re right, I’m adorable.” 

Saeyoung chuckled and pressed a soft kiss to Yoosung’s lips, only pulling away when the elevator dinged open.

☽☾

The Savior was not what Minhee had been expecting. 

When you hear a group of cultists talking about their ‘Savior’, you typically expect someone old. Someone similar to a religious leader, like a priest. An old man in long robes, possibly wearing a weird hat with some religious iconography scattered around. That was the kind of ‘Savior’ Minhee had been expecting. 

Instead, when she walked through the double doors, she was met with a beautiful woman seated on a literal golden throne.

The woman was wearing a mask over her face. It was a black lacey thing, masquerade-esque in its style, and covered the entire upper half of her face, leaving only her bright green eyes visible. Despite the mask, Minhee could tell she was young. Likely around the same age as herself. The woman also had long blonde hair that cascaded down her back in voluminous curls. It was as if she had stepped straight out of a shampoo commercial. 

The most noticeable thing about her appearance though were the clothes she was wearing. While she wasn’t an elderly man wearing a weird hat like Minhee had expected, she wasn’t far off about the robes. The woman was clothed in long white and black robes that fell to her ankles, decorated with blue and gold trim throughout. 

Minhee could only gape at the woman as Unknown led her to the foot of the Savior’s throne. 

“I brought the journalist as requested,” Unknown said, bowing to the Savior. 

“Thank you Saeran.” The Savior’s voice was soft, but held an air of regality to it that Minhee couldn’t help but be awed by. “I would like to speak with her alone. You can wait outside until we are finished.” 

Unknown—apparently named Saeran—nodded and made his way out of the throne room, the double doors slamming shut behind him. 

Now, Minhee was alone with the Savior. 

The two women were silent for a moment as they stared at each other. Minhee wasn’t sure if she was supposed to speak or if she was to wait for the Savior to address her. Not wanting to upset the woman who was probably the only reason she was alive right now, she decided to remain silent. 

After a few beats passed, the Savior spoke. 

“You’re prettier than I expected,” the Savior said in her quiet voice. Minhee wasn’t sure whether to thank her or not, but then the woman stood up and all questions left her mind. 

The Savior stepped down from her throne, and came face to face with Minhee. They were almost the exact same height, with the Savior probably only having an inch on her. 

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Choi Minhee,” the Savior said. “I’ve been waiting for this day.” 

“You’ve been waiting?” Minhee asked, figuring it was alright to break her silence since the Savior was speaking directly to her. 

The Savior nodded. “Yes. I’ve been admiring your work from afar. The interviews you’ve been conducting with the members of the RFA, they’re fantastic.” 

“Uh… thank you?” 

“You’re welcome,” the Savior replied with a soft dip of her head. Then she met Minhee’s gaze again, before her green eyes flitted to Minhee’s shoulder. “How is your injury doing by the way?” She asked, bringing her fingers up to gently graze at the bandages. 

“It’s better than it was,” she answered, jumping at the contact but not moving away. “I’ll have to thank Unkno- Saeran for bandaging it up.” 

The Savior smiled. “Yes, he did a good job with it. I told him to treat you as if he were helping me. Has he been treating you with that amount of respect?” 

Minhee thought back to his threat to throw her out a window if she kept being annoying. 

“Yes, he has.” 

The Savior seemed pleased at this. “Good. Let me know if he or anyone else here is unkind to you. You are my guest and will be treated with the utmost respect, even if the others don’t like it.” She dropped her fingers and moved away from Minhee, toward a window that sat across from her throne. Minhee followed and stood beside her. 

“Thank you. I, uh, appreciate how kind you’ve been to me but can I ask why I’m here?” Minhee asked, looking at the Savior. 

The Savior continued to look out the window, a serene smile spreading across her face. 

“The truth, Choi Minhee, is that… you fascinate me.” Her words were so soft, Minhee struggled to hear them despite how close they were standing together. 

“I do?” Minhee questioned. “Why?” 

The Savior laughed, and the sound reminded Minhee of bells. 

“Is it not obvious?” She asked, turning back to face Minhee. “You’re a human who has taken the side of ghouls. You went out of your own accord to get a ghoul’s side of the story of life in this world. Most humans are content to simply pretend we don’t exist. But if they don’t ignore us, they try to kill us. Those are the only two sides. But you don’t fall into either of those categories, Minhee. You instead ask questions. Why do we hunt humans? What are our lives like living on the fringes of society? How can we obtain peace?” 

The Savior stepped closer to Minhee, and reached forward to twirl a strand of brown hair around her finger. Minhee felt her cheeks heat up at the close contact. “You are able to see both sides of the story. You have empathy unlike any human I’ve ever met before. You are the future I want.” 

She let go of Minhee’s hair and stepped away, walking back to her throne. “Mint Eye was created for one sole purpose: to end the war between humans and ghouls and unite our species. I believe you are the first step in achieving that.” 

“So… what is it you want with me while I’m here?” Minhee asked. 

The Savior smiled again. “I want to spend time with you. Get to know you, learn about who you are and what made you the way you are. Learn your history. If I can understand how you came to understand ghouls so well, perhaps we can apply that knowledge to helping the rest of humanity come to similar conclusions.” She sat back down on her throne, and made a waving motion with her hand. “But for now I’m sure you’re hungry and exhausted after all you’ve been through. I’ll have Saeran escort you back to your room. Food will be brought to you, and you can clean up and regain your energy. Soon though, we will speak again.” 

“I can’t go back to the RFA?” Minhee asked before she could think. 

The Savior’s eyebrow twitched, and her expression hardened. “No. For now you must remain with us. The RFA has… different ideals than we do. I don’t want your opinion of us to be tainted by things they might say. I want you to remain unbiased.” Minhee opened her mouth to speak again but the Savior cut her off. “Saeran! You may come back in here!” 

The double doors opened again and Saeran stalked into the room, keeping his expression neutral as he approached the Savior’s throne. 

“Take Minhee back to her room, and have someone go get her dinner. If she asks for anything, I want you to get it for her.” 

Saeran bowed. “Yes Savior.” He straightened up and began to walk towards the doors, and Minhee scurried behind. 

Just before the doors closed, the Savior spoke one more time. 

“I will see you again soon, Choi Minhee.” 

The echo from the doors slamming shut rang in Minhee’s ears all the way back to her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO WE ARE FOLLOWING A LOT OF POVS NOW
> 
> Vanderwood is doing their best, Seven is in the most convenient situation ever, Jaehee is depressed, and Minhee is doing her best not to get eaten by a cult
> 
> also WE FINALLY GOT TO MEET RIKA I know you all have been waiting for the Rika x MC tag to become relevant and NOW IT IS I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting we just had a lot of plot to get through first but now we're onto the good stuff ;))))
> 
> let me know what you thought of the chapter in the comments!! I'm trying to balance a lot of plot lines rn so let me know if you want me to focus more on one side of things or another and I'll see if I can work it into the next chapter 
> 
> thank you all so much for reading!!! Hope you liked it!!
> 
> feel free to message me on tumblr ;) I love hearing from you guys  
> cactusskiddo.tumblr.com


	15. Let's Pick the Truth that We Believe In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhee talks a bit more with the Savior, Saeyoung tries to find more on Mint Eye, and Vanderwood makes a shocking discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi im not dead yeet skeet I'm just really slow with chapter updates
> 
> anyway I had this chapter almost completely finished and then i like,,, forgot about it for a month so that was fun but now I finished it!! part of what made me eager to finish the chapter is my friend saying they couldn't wait for me to finish the chapter and you know which bitch you are so shout out to my main ho
> 
> also it's almost 3 am I'm so tired guys these notes are gonna be shit whoops
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!! the title comes from bastille's song 'doom days'

Days passed at Mint Eye. 

The Savior kept her promise about treating Minhee like an esteemed guest. She was able to request whatever she wanted for a meal, and some cloaked cult member would go get it for her from a restaurant. Through this system, she learned two things. 

One, money didn’t seem to be an issue for the ghouls of Mint Eye, as there was no protest even when she once asked for a steak as her takeout dinner. Two, the building she was in must’ve been far from the city, because the takeout was always a bit cold once it arrived to her even though they assured her they left to get it as soon as she had asked for it. 

So she was being held captive by rich ghouls a bit out of Seoul. While she couldn’t be certain she was still near Seoul, she was sure the ghouls of Mint Eye wouldn’t have run several hours straight to aid the RFA during the raid. 

A few days after her initial meeting with the Savior, Saeran arrived at her door around noon to take her to the throne room once more. She hadn’t seen him since her first day there, so she knew he was there to take her to see the Savior. 

They were making their way through the twisting halls of the building, when Minhee decided to try and make small talk with the mysterious man. 

“So Saeran,” she began, ignoring the way he flinched when she said his name, “how long have you been at Mint Eye?” 

Saeran was silent. She didn’t know if he would answer her questions, but now that she knew he couldn’t hurt her, she wanted to try to learn more about the man. There was something about him that was intriguing to her. He never looked her directly in the face, always ducking away or turning away from her, so she still hadn’t gotten a good look at him without the mask. Minhee wondered if this was just his aloofness, or if there was something more. 

After a few beats, Saeran spoke. 

“I’ve been with the Savior for almost 7 years,” he told her, not glancing back. 

Minhee let out an impressed whistle. “Damn, that’s a while. How old are you?” 

She wasn’t sure if he was going to answer again, but then, 

“I’m twenty-one.” 

This made Minhee pause. He was young. Younger than he had expected. Two years younger than her, in fact. 

“So you joined this cult when you were 14?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. 

This time, Saeran didn’t respond. Minhee decided not to push it, and instead rephrased her question. 

“How did you get involved in a ghoul cult anyway? Did you like, hear about it through a friend or-” 

“The Savior saved me from a bad situation,” Saeran said, cutting her off. “Now will you stop asking all these damn questions? You’re getting on my nerves.” While his words were harsh, his voice wasn’t as sharp as it usually was. Maybe he was just in a weirdly good mood. Either way, getting that much out of him was accomplishment enough for Minhee in that moment, so she fell quiet. 

They continued their trek to the throne room, and soon enough they were standing in front of the double doors once more. When Saeran went to open them though, Minhee spoke up.

“Wait, real quick,” she started. He paused his reach to the door handles, but kept his face away from her. “Uh, I just wanted to say thank you for bandaging my shoulder the other night. It’s healing really well.” 

Saeran kept his eyes on the floor. “You don’t need to thank me. The Savior ordered me to bandage you up, so I did.” 

“Still, you did a good job and I appreciate that,” she told him. 

Saeran sighed and dropped his hand, and looked up to meet her eyes for the first time since she’d gotten there. “You’re so fucking weird,” he said quietly, looking at her with an expression that couldn’t be described as happy, but couldn’t be described as upset either. 

Minhee opened her mouth to make a smartass remark, when she actually _looked_ at his face and gasped aloud as she realized why he seemed so familiar to her. 

The shape of his eyes, the slope of his nose, the curve of his lips. She’d seen this face before. 

“...Seven?” She asked in a hushed whisper, staring at him with wide eyes. 

His expression instantly hardened, and a deep frown formed. “Don’t fucking call me that!” He barked, slamming his hand against the door. “I’m nothing like that worthless traitor. Don’t ever say that stupid nickname of his around me again!” He threw the doors open and harshly shoved her inside, before slamming the doors shut behind her. 

Minhee stared blankly in front of her, trying to process what the hell just happened. 

“What the fuck?” She whispered to herself. 

“Did something happen?” The Savior asked from her place on her throne. 

Minhee looked up to the woman with wide eyes. “Why the fuck does Saeran have the same face as Luciel?!” Minhee demanded, marching up to the woman’s throne. “Is that my friend? Did you do something to him?” 

The Savior gave her a soft smile and shook her head. “No, that is not Luciel, Minhee. There’s a very simple explanation as to why they’re identical. I’m sure you can figure it out.” 

Minhee’s racing and confused thoughts were so jumbled together, it took a moment for everything to fall into place. The identical faces, the way Seven had commented that Saeran’s voice sounded familiar that first night the RFA ran into him, the way Saeran screamed about Seven being a traitor. Suddenly, it all made sense. 

“They’re twins?” She asked. 

The Savior nodded. “Yes. You know your friend as Choi Luciel, but that’s just his baptismal name. His actual name is Choi Saeyoung. He abandoned Saeran when they were 14, and as a result I took Saeran into my own care.” 

Abandoned him? That didn’t sound like Seven at all. 

“Saeran mentioned you saved him from a bad situation. What was that?” Minhee asked, trying to figure this mystery out. 

The Savior shook her head. “Now that’s personal information that I won’t tell you,” she explained. “But let’s get back to why I brought you here today.” She stood up from her throne, and made her way towards Minhee. “I was thinking it would be nice to have some coffee together and chat, don’t you think?” 

Minhee turned around and saw a small table had been set up near the window across from the throne. On the table was a small platter with tiny pastries on it, along with two cups of coffee. It’s not like she had much of a choice in this matter, so Minhee decided to just go with what the woman said for now. 

The Savior walked over to the table and sat down in one of the plush chairs, and Minhee followed by sitting in the other. The Savior smiled at her as she took a sip of her coffee, and Minhee did the same. The coffee was good, but nowhere near as good as the RFA cafe’s. 

She felt a pang of homesickness as she thought back to the cafe. Even though it had only been a few days since she’d seen the RFA, she already missed them terribly. She found herself imagining Seven’s ridiculous jokes and Yoosung’s quiet laugh, Zen’s flirtatious remarks and Jumin’s deadpan observations, V’s calm presence and Jaehee’s soft smiles. 

Jaehee. She really missed Jaehee. She found herself imagining how a conversation with Jaehee would go about the situation she currently found herself in. What Jaehee’s reactions to the Savior would be, and what her own thoughts on the situation would be. 

_”She seems to be a very intelligent woman, Minhee. I would be wary of her, even if she’s friendly to you right now, her intentions might not be so noble.”_

_“Luciel has a twin brother he told none of us about? I suppose it makes sense given his private nature, but still, I can’t believe we were unaware of something as huge as that.”_

_“Asking for fried wings that much cannot be healthy, Minhee. Please, ask for a salad for your next dinner.”_

“Minhee? Minhee are you alright?” 

Minhee looked up from where she’d been staring forlornly into her coffee cup, and realized the Savior had been speaking to her but she’d been too lost in her thoughts to notice. 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Minhee apologized, glancing up, “what did you say?” 

The Savior didn’t seem bothered by Minhee’s distraction, and gave her a gentle smile. “I asked how you’re settling in. Is everything to your liking?” 

“Yes, everything is great, thank you,” Minhee said, unable to make it sound convincing. 

“You miss the RFA, don’t you?” The Savior asked. Her tone was non judgemental, and she seemed genuinely concerned as she looked at Minhee. 

Minhee kept her eyes on the table. “Isn’t it obvious? Say what you like about treating me like an esteemed guest, you’re still holding me here against my will.” While it was a risk to speak like that to the Savior, Minhee found the words slipping out of her mouth. She was tired of pretending everything was fine. 

“I understand your frustration,” the Savior began, still sounding calm, “but you don’t know the RFA like you think you do. You don’t know what the man who leads them is truly like.” 

Minhee looked up. “And you do?” 

The Savior’s smile turned sad. “I do,” is all she said in reply. “But that’s a topic for another day. Today I wanted to talk to you more about Mint Eye, and I also wanted to start talking about you, dear Minhee.” Minhee didn’t want the topic to change. She wanted to know what the Savior had against the RFA, what she had against V. She wanted to know why everything between Mint Eye and the RFA seemed connected. She wanted answers. 

“Why can’t it be a topic for today?” Minhee challenged, straightening up in her seat. “The RFA had no idea who Mint Eye was, yet Seven’s fucking twin brother happens to be a part of this cult, and you claim to know ‘dark secrets’ they’re hiding from me. Why is that, Savior? Who are you? Why do you know so much about us?” She hadn’t realized how much her voice had risen until she was finished speaking, and the following silence nearly deafened her. 

The Savior was quiet for a moment. She calmly took a sip of her coffee, and folded her hands in front of her. 

“You will get your answers in time, Minhee. I can promise you that. But you need to understand the context surrounding these things first. You are a newcomer to the RFA after all. You still don’t know the full situation regarding things before your arrival. And you’re a newcomer to Mint Eye as well, and need to understand what our group is before you pass judgement on us.” 

Minhee glared at the Savior for a moment, before sighing and slumping down in her seat. “Fine,” she grumbled, “it’s not like I have a choice anyway.” 

The Savior pondered this for a moment before speaking again. “I won’t give you answers about the RFA, or Mint Eye’s relationship to it, but I can give you answers about Mint Eye itself.” 

Minhee raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” 

“I mean we will take turns. You ask me a question about Mint Eye and I will answer it, and then I will ask you a question about your life and you will answer that. We will switch off. How does that sound?” 

Well, at least she’d be able to get some information. 

“Alright, I’ll start,” Minhee said, not leaving room for argument. She took a sip of her coffee and thought about what her first question would be. “Why do you call yourself the Savior? What are you saving your members from?” 

The Savior smiled at Minhee. She was silent for a moment, clearly thinking of how to phrase her answer. 

“The world is a very cruel place for ghouls to live in. We constantly live in fear. Always glancing over our shoulders and not trusting anyone. Here at Mint Eye, I try to save my members from that unhappy life. Here, they don’t need to fear anything. They don’t need to mistrust others, and get let go of the self-loathing they have felt their entire lives for what they are. At Mint Eye they can embrace the inherent darkness inside of them, and finally feel free to be truly happy. So I save them from their unhappiness.” 

Minhee nodded at that as she took a pastry off the platter and popped it in her mouth. That was a more reassuring answer than she had expected. With cults, the ‘Savior’ was usually someone saving them from the end of the world or whatever. This actually made sense, even if the religious similarities were a little unnerving. 

“My turn,” the Savior then said, “why did you become a journalist?” 

Minhee swallowed her pastry and stared at the Savior for a moment. She hadn’t been expecting a question like that from the woman, but also she shouldn’t have been surprised given how interested the Savior seemed to be in her personally. 

“I always loved writing as a child, and journalism was a good way to apply that in the real world. So it just made sense,” Minhee said with a shrug. 

“No.” The Savior’s sharp tone made Minhee straighten up in surprise. “I want the real answer.” 

“What makes you think that’s not the real answer?” Minhee questioned. 

“Because you were driven to the point of going on a suicide mission in the search for answers about a topic no one dared ask about. That’s a more committed journalist than I’ve ever met before. There’s a story behind that drive. That’s what I want to know.” 

Minhee blinked at the Savior, whose expression never wavered. She took a shaky breath and decided she was going to have to get deep with this. 

“I… I’ve always been someone who loved seeking out knowledge,” Minhee began, staring at her hands. “From the time I was young, I was always asking questions about people. What their lives were like, what they thought of, I was just fascinated with the human condition. Then I witnessed something I wasn’t supposed to, and I realized people lie a lot. About who they are and what they’re actually like. And my mission became to find out the truth of people. That’s what led me into journalism.” As she finished, she sat back in the chair and crossed her arms over her chest, her bangs hiding her face. She wondered if the Savior was going to ask her about the thing she wasn’t supposed to witness but did. 

To her surprise—and relief—the Savior didn’t mention it. 

“That makes sense,” is all the Savior said in reply. “Your turn again.” 

Minhee already knew her next question. “You said you want to save your members from the unhappiness of the world, but that unhappiness is caused by humans. Why do you also want to unite ghouls and humans if that’s the case? Wouldn’t you want to just separate entirely from humans and live happily on your own?” 

The Savior seemed pleased at this question. “Ghouls aren’t the only ones trapped in our unhappiness. While yes, humans are the reason ghouls live cruel lives, ghouls also make humans suffer as well. If I only cared about the wellbeing of ghouls I would do as you said and just live separated from society, but I care about humans as well. The only way for both species to be happy is for us to unite, however that union might occur.” 

“Why care about humans though? Is there a personal connection you have with them?” Minhee asked without thinking. 

“That’s more than just one question,” the Savior commented, “and I already answered a question from you, so it’s not your turn.” 

“Fair enough,” Minhee shrugged. 

“Tell me, Minhee,” the Savior began, folding her hands in front of her, “was the RFA the first time you’d ever interacted with ghouls, knowing what they were?” 

Minhee kept her gaze level as she responded. 

“Yes.” 

The Savior narrowed her eyes. “You’re lying.” 

Minhee didn’t say anything more, and stared the Savior down, refusing to budge. After a moment, the Savior sighed and turned away. “Alright, we’re running out of time so you get one more question but make it a short one.” 

The question was instantaneous. 

“What’s your name?” 

The Savior pushed herself out of her chair, and turned away from Minhee. “Come now, Minhee. You’re clever. I’m sure you can figure that out on your own. If not now, you will be able to soon.” She made her way back to her throne, and gestured to the door. “Saeran is waiting for you outside. I will see you again soon.” 

Saeran didn’t so much as spare a glance at her the entire way back.

☽☾

“Babe, can you move your laptop? I need to pee.” 

“Hm?” Seven glanced up from where he was typing onto his laptop, and looked to his boyfriend as he popped an earbud out. Yoosung was currently laying across Seven’s lap, and Seven was using his back as a desk for his laptop while Yoosung typed onto his own laptop. 

“I asked if you could move your laptop so I can go to the bathroom,” Yoosung repeated, laughing a bit. 

“Oh! Sorry!” Seven lifted his laptop and Yoosung squirmed out.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” he said, pressing a kiss to Seven’s cheek before disappearing down the hall. 

While usually they hung out at Yoosung’s place, today they were at Seven’s house. They weren’t doing much, they weren’t even really talking. Yoosung was working on homework and would occasionally ask Seven a math question, while Seven was working on finding more information about Mint Eye. 

He’d been at this for several days now, and had yielded little results. He had found a few personal posts mentioning the term ‘Mint Eye’, but there was little more information than that to be found on the internet. Even more frustrating, it seemed as though someone was directly attacking his own files. They hadn’t gotten through his defenses yet, as he had managed to find them and boot them out every time, but this person was persistent. It wasn’t going to be long before they wormed their way through a back door and into his computer system. 

A part of Seven wondered if this own hacker of his was related to Mint Eye in any way. They had managed to delete one file of Seven’s during their last attack, and it had been one directly related to his research into Mint Eye. Thankfully he had managed to recover it, but it still raised suspicions as to what this person wanted. 

Seven decided that the next time this person tried to break into his system, he was going to track their IP and figure out a way to hack into _their_ system instead. It might be his only lead into Mint Eye. If this person even was from Mint Eye like he suspected. 

Yoosung came back into the room and plopped down on the couch beside Seven. 

“I’m so tired of studying,” Yoosung complained, dropping his head onto Seven’s shoulder. Leaning over, he wrapped his arms around Seven’s waist. “C’monnnn! You were begging to cuddle me yesterday when I was playing LOLOL and I did. Now it’s your turn to take a break from your hacking and cuddle me.” 

Seven snorted. “Believe me, cutie. I want to. But I gotta be ready in case this prick decides to try and break into my files again,” he explained, bringing a hand up to run his fingers through Yoosung’s hair. 

Yoosung pouted. “You can’t even take a break for five minutes?” 

Fuck. He was doing the puppy dog eyes. Yoosung knew Saeyoung couldn’t resist the puppy dog eyes. 

“Okay fine,” Saeyoung relented, shutting his laptop and putting it aside. “Only for a few minutes though,” he said as he stretched his arms out. Yoosung made a little cheering noise as he immediately koala’d onto Saeyoung, wrapping his arms around Saeyoung’s shoulders and practically straddling his lap. 

Saeyoung hadn’t realized this until he had started dating Yoosung, but he was a touchy person. Before he was with Yoosung, it had been so long since Saeyoung had actually just touched someone affectionately, whether romantic or platonic. But now that he had Yoosung to cuddle with whenever he wanted, he was quickly coming to the understanding that he was very touch-starved. More often than not it was him asking Yoosung to cuddle, so it was funny to have the roles be reversed for once. 

“Have you found anything out about Mint Eye yet?” Yoosung asked, his voice muffled by Saeyoung’s shirt. 

Saeyoung sighed and began to run his hands up and down Yoosung’s spine. “Only a little bit. I know they have more than 100 ghouls as members, and I only started seeing mentions of them a few years ago so they’re fairly new. I’m trying to find more but there’s just nothing about them online. It’s like we’re chasing ghosts or something.” 

“I mean, it is a cult after all. A ghoul cult to be specific. I feel like they’re not exactly advertising themselves all that much,” Yoosung pointed out. 

Saeyoung shrugged. “Very true, cutie. Very true.” 

It was quiet between them for a moment. The only sounds being Saeyoung’s own heartbeat, and the soft noises of Yoosung’s breathing. He felt Yoosung further melt into him, and Saeyoung pressed a kiss to the top of his head. 

“Have you found anything on Minhee yet?” Yoosung asked in a very quiet voice. 

“...no,” Saeyoung whispered. “I wish I did. But like Mint Eye she’s just… gone.” 

Yoosung pulled back a bit so he was looking at Saeyoung. “Be honest with me Saeyoung. Do you think she’s still alive?” 

Saeyoung bit his lip and glanced away from Yoosung as he tried to think. He actually wasn’t sure what he thought about Minhee. While the pessimist in him was inclined to say she was dead, another part of him was saying that wasn’t true. Maybe it was just his brain not wanting to believe Minhee was dead, but his instincts were telling him she was still alive. 

“To be honest, I have no idea,” Saeyoung answered softly, “I don’t know how she would still be alive, but something in me is just saying she’s still around. I don’t know, it doesn’t make sense.” 

“None of this makes sense,” Yoosung offered. “But we’re doing the best we can. I really think we’re gonna find her, and that everything’s gonna turn out okay.” 

Saeyoung adored Yoosung’s optimism. He was like his own personal shooting star, giving him light even in what seemed like complete darkness. 

His Shooting Star. He liked that. 

“I hope so,” Saeyoung whispered, pressing his forehead against Yoosung’s. “Wanna stop thinking about this for now though and just kiss?” 

Yoosung smiled. “Sounds great to me, Saeyoung,” he whispered back. Then, Saeyoung felt warm lips pressing against his own, and the noise in his head finally went quiet. At least for a little bit.

☽☾

It had been almost a week and a half since the raid on the RFA cafe, and Choi Minhee had been declared missing for 8 days. The CCG had questioned her boss, Lee Choyeon, but she had told them she knew nothing about Minhee’s sudden disappearance. A missing persons report had been filed for her, but it quickly had been lost amongst the countless other missing persons reports floating around South Korea. 

Along with this, Butterfly had disappeared as well. While most of the RFA had been seen fleeing the sight of the raid, Butterfly had just vanished. Many CCG agents suspected she had simply slipped out in the midst of fighting with everyone too busy to notice, while others were curious as to if she had been injured and died from her wounds. 

Vanderwood wasn’t content with these theories. There were two things they were certain of. 

One: Choi Minhee was Butterfly. 

Two: Something had happened to her. 

They knew Minhee wouldn’t just abandon her job at _The Moon and Sun_. She cared too much about her articles for that. But they had a suspicion that she wasn’t dead either. They certainly hoped she wasn’t dead at least. She may have been a ghoul supporter, but the idea of a human civilian being killed because of the war between ghouls and the CCG didn’t sit right with Vanderwood. They just hoped she showed herself soon. 

It had been a few days since Vanderwood had given the debriefing on the raid. They were waiting for 707 to get back to them with more information, so in the meantime they were continuing their investigation into the RFA. It was nighttime when they decided to go to the cafe, and see if anyone was lurking around. 

While they knew the ghouls were smart enough not to reopen the cafe, Vanderwood wouldn’t have been surprised if they had to stop back by to pick some things up. It was a long shot, but it was the only lead they had until the members of the RFA decided to show up again. 

They had been going to the cafe for a few nights in a row now. It was nothing more than a simplified stakeout, but even if it was a fruitless effort, it was relaxing to sit in the cool evening air underneath the faded stars of Seoul, and wait for anything to show up. However, on this particular night, they found something waiting for them. 

It was directly in front of the cafe—impossible to miss. Vanderwood only saw a pile of white fabric from a distance, but as they got closer they were able to make out the pale legs splayed unnaturally to the side, and the long brown hair streaked with blood. 

It was Butterfly. Her mask was still on her face, her dark eyes staring blankly at the stars above. She had a myriad of stab wounds in her abdomen, her white sweatshirt no longer white as a result. 

“Fucking hell…” Vanderwood whispered, eyes wide as they stared at the dead body. It seemed like she hadn’t been dead for long, a bit of blood still leaking out onto the sidewalk beneath her. They approached her carefully, as if she were a jack in the box that was going to leap out at them at any moment. 

Kneeling down beside her, they reached to pull her mask up, but hesitated. Was this disrespectful to the dead? To Minhee? 

They couldn’t confirm her identity without taking the mask off. Vanderwood knew this. So they sighed and gave a silent apology to her spirit, and pulled the mask up. 

...it wasn’t Choi Minhee beneath the mask. 

Vanderwood gaped at the woman whose face he’d never seen before. She had the same height and build as Minhee, but it wasn’t her. Vanderwood recognized her clothes from the night of the raid. This looked like Butterfly. 

But not Minhee. 

“What the fuck?” Vanderwood whispered to themself. They were never wrong. They had had a hunch that Minhee and Butterfly was one in the same, and their hunches were never wrong. It was their instincts that had guided them to being a Special Class Investigator. This was… impossible. 

But here they were. Staring into the face of the Butterfly ghoul. Not Choi Minhee. 

Unable to tear their eyes from the dead girl’s face, they reached into their pocket and pressed ‘call’ without looking at their phone. 

“Special Class Vanderwood?” The sleepy voice of Investigator Hwang rang through the speaker. 

“Investigator Hwang, forgive the late call but I’ve discovered something extremely important to the RFA Cafe investigation. I’m going to need you to come to the RFA cafe immediately.” 

There was a sigh on the other end of the line. “Special Class, I’m sorry but it’s really late. Is it really that important that it can’t wait till morning?” In the background, Vanderwood faintly heard a male voice calling, ‘sweetheart come back to bed’ and had to resist the urge to scoff. 

“Trust me, you’re going to want to come in for this.” 

“Seriously? It’s literally midnight-” 

“Butterfly is dead,” they said, cutting her off. 

“Wait, what? How? Did you kill her?” Hwang asked. Vanderwood could hear the rustling of clothes through the phone, and figured she was getting dressed. 

“No, I didn’t. I just found her body in front of the RFA cafe. Please come here as quickly as possible. Call Yoon as well, and tell her to join us. She’s going to want to come see this for herself.” 

“Will do. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Hwang said. She didn’t wait for a goodbye from Vanderwood before hanging up the phone. 

Vanderwood put their phone back in their pocket, still staring at Butterfly’s face. This didn’t feel right. It didn’t make sense for her to be some random girl. Why would Choi Minhee go missing, and Butterfly wind up dead a few days later and not be her? And why was she left in front of the cafe, like someone wanted Vanderwood to find her? 

They didn’t know. But they knew something was off. 

However, they knew the rest of the CCG was going to just accept Butterfly as dead and close the case. So things were going to get more challenging from here on out if they wanted to continue their own investigation. They looked back down at Butterfly and sighed again. 

“Choi Minhee, wherever you are, I hope you’re alright,” they muttered, brushing their hand over Butterfly’s eyes to close them. 

From a rooftop in the distance, a pair of sickly blue eyes watched the investigator. Butterfly was now considered dead by the CCG, which was just what Mint Eye wanted. The Savior would be pleased with this. 

Saeran was gone before the other two investigators arrived at the scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> huehuehue Butterfly,,, is DEAD but _not really_ ;))))
> 
> also let's get an F for Hwang's boyfriend he just wanted his gf to come back to bed but instead she had to go look at a dead ghoul body
> 
> oh and newsflash i would die for yooseven that's all
> 
> i wish i had more to say with these notes but im tired so i hope u guys liked it and if u did pls leave a comment every comment gives me energy to write the next chapter faster uwu and thank u very much for reading :)))
> 
> come say hi to me on tumblr!! (seriously pls talk to me I need more people to scream about this au with)   
> cactusskiddo.tumblr.com


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